Skip to content

Real world effectiveness of repeated ketamine infusions for treatment-resistant depression with comorbid borderline personality disorder.

Kevork Danayan, Noah Chisamore, Nelson B Rodrigues, J. D. Vincenzo, Shakila Meshkat, Zoe Doyle, Rodrigo B. Mansur, Lee Phan, Farhan Fancy, Edmond H. Chau, Aniqa Tabassum, Kevin Kratiuk, Anil Arekapudi, Kayla M Teopiz, Roger S McIntyre, Joshua D. Rosenblat

Psychiatry Research March 5, 2023 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115133 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Retrospective analysis Peer reviewed
Sample size 100
Population Adults with treatment-resistant depression, with or without comorbid borderline personality disorder, receiving care at a Canadian rapid treatment centre
Intervention Intravenous ketamine
Dose 0.5-0.75 mg/kg over 40 minutes
Duration Two weeks
Topics Depression Esketamine Ketamine
Citations 36
Registration NCT04209296
Key points Intravenous ketamine significantly reduced depressive and borderline symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression and comorbid borderline personality disorder, with no significant difference in improvement between those with and without borderline personality disorder.

Abstract

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has high rates of comorbidity with mood disorders, including treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Comorbidity of BPD with depression is associated with poorer response to antidepressants. Intravenous ketamine is a novel treatment for TRD that has not been specifically evaluated in patients with comorbid BPD. In this retrospective analysis of data collected from participants who received care at the Canadian Rapid Treatment Centre of Excellence (CRTCE; Braxia Health; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04209296), we evaluated the effectiveness of intravenous ketamine in a TRD population with comorbid BPD (N=100; n=50 BPD-positive compared with n=50 BPD-negative). Participants were administered four doses of intravenous ketamine (0.5-0.75mg/kg over 40 minutes) over two weeks. The primary outcome measures were changes in depressive symptom severity (as measured by Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report 16-item (QIDS-SR16)) and borderline symptom severity (as measured by Borderline Symptom List 23-item (BSL-23)). Both BPD-positive and BPD-negative groups improved significantly on the QIDS-SR16, QIDS-SR16 suicide ideation item, anxiety, and functionality scales with large effect sizes. There was no significant difference between groups. The BPD-positive group exhibited significant reduction of 0.64 on BSL-23 scores and a significant reduction of 5.95 on QIDS-SR16 scores. Patients with TRD and comorbid BPD receiving ketamine exhibited a significant reduction in symptoms of depression, borderline personality, suicidality, and anxiety.

Comparable studies

Other observational and cohort studies on ketamine for depression, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Concomitant BDNF and sleep slow wave changes indicate ketamine-induced plasticity in major depressive disorder Patients with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder 2012 Observational cohort n = 30
Altered peripheral immune profiles in treatment-resistant depression: response to ketamine and prediction of treatment outcome Healthy controls and actively depressed patients with treatment-resistant depression... 2017 Observational cohort n = 59
Clinical Predictors of Ketamine Response in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression Treatment-resistant inpatients with DSM-IV-TR-diagnosed major depressive disorder or... 2014 Post hoc analysis of pooled data from four studies n = 108
An investigation of amino-acid neurotransmitters as potential predictors of clinical improvement to ketamine in depression Drug-free patients with major depressive disorder 2011 Observational cohort n = 14
Efficacy of ketamine therapy in the treatment of depression Drug-free/naïve men with severe depression, no history of psychotic disorder, head... 2019 Observational cohort n = 25

Explore topics

By condition and practice