Family history of alcohol dependence and initial antidepressant response to an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A high rate of comorbidity exists between mood disorders and alcohol dependence. Furthermore, both ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic with a recently described rapid-onset antidepressant effect, and ethanol are N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. Previous investigations of healthy individuals with a family history of alcohol dependence have found that these individuals have an attenuated response to ketamine's perceptual disturbance and dysphoric effects similar to that found in individuals with a self-reported history of alcohol dependence. This study investigated whether a family history of alcohol dependence influences ketamine's initial antidepressant effect.

Methods

Twenty-six subjects with DSM-IV treatment-resistant major depression were given

SUBMITTER: Phelps LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2727595 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature