Antidepressant efficacy of ketamine in treatment-resistant major depression: a two-site randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Ketamine, a glutamate N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, has shown rapid antidepressant effects, but small study groups and inadequate control conditions in prior studies have precluded a definitive conclusion. The authors evaluated the rapid antidepressant efficacy of ketamine in a large group of patients with treatment-resistant major depression.

Method

This was a two-site, parallel-arm, randomized controlled trial of a single infusion of ketamine compared to an active placebo control condition, the anesthetic midazolam. Patients with treatment-resistant major depression experiencing a major depressive episode were randomly assigned under double-blind conditions to receive a single intravenous infusion of ketamine or midazolam in a 2:1 ratio (N=73).

SUBMITTER: Murrough JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3992936 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature