Project Summary

Dennis Charney, M.D. (Distinguished Investigator 2007) of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, plans to study the effectiveness of intranasal use of ketamine for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) employing a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial with a crossover design in 26 patients. Dr. Charney has shown in two studies of TRD that a single dose of intravenous ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, resulted in rapid and sustained antidepressant efficacy. In the latter study, 71 percent of the patients responded and 29 percent met remission criteria the day after the treatment. Moreover, one third maintained response for a week. Because of limited usefulness of IV dissemination and the dissociative side effects of treatment, Dr. Charney is seeking to study additional methods of delivery of the drug besides intravenously. In the proposed study, Dr. Charney aims to investigate, for the first time, intranasal ketamine administration in a sample of patients with TRD, as well as test a novel pharmacological means of decreasing ketamine's psychotomimetic side effects. The nasal mucosa surface provides a site for rapid drug absorption, resulting in central nervous system effects in a short time period.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Unipolar

Search Again