Ignite Creation Date:
2024-05-06 @ 1:59 AM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 11:12 AM
Study NCT ID:
NCT01945047
Status:
COMPLETED
Last Update Posted:
2018-06-26
First Post:
2013-05-22
Brief Title:
Action of Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression
Sponsor:
University of Ottawa
Organization:
University of Ottawa
Study Overview
Official Title:
Phase 2 Optimization of the Antidepressant Action of Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression and Investigations on Its Mechanism of Action
Status:
COMPLETED
Status Verified Date:
2018-06
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
Depression carries the largest burden of all medical disorders in middle to high income countries as determined by the World Health Organization Despite many antidepressant strategies only a third of patients get well after their first treatment and a third remain ill after several treatments Moreover antidepressant treatments all have a delayed action ranging up to several weeks
Ketamine KET has been used for decades as a sedative and anesthetic In treatment-resistant depressed patientsTRD an intravenous dose much lower than necessary for anesthesia may produce a robust antidepressant effect and may even abolish suicidal thoughts within hours peaking within 24 hours But its antidepressant effect generally lasts only daysPrevious studies examining KET in TRD have been critiqued for lack of an effective placebo measure due to brief perceptual experiences associated with KET Thus the current study compares KET against a short-acting sedative The phases of this study compare response to a single KET injection to 6 injections over 2 weeks Next KET responders are given 1 injection a week for 3 weeks of either KET or the sedative agent to determine if beneficial effects of KET are maintained and to assess duration of its benefits after repeated administration The genetic profile of patients for a substance promoting contacts between cells and brain will be determined to investigate if response to KET could be predicted with that blood test This substance as well as several chemicals that produce inflammation will also be measured in the blood to investigate their role in the effect of KET Patients will receive in total no more than the equivalent of two to three anesthetic dose of KET Results from this study will help establish the beneficial effects of a single KET injection as a rapid intervention for major depression and to investigate the possibility of obtaining a prolonged antidepressant effect with repeated injections
Ketamine KET has been used for decades as a sedative and anesthetic In treatment-resistant depressed patientsTRD an intravenous dose much lower than necessary for anesthesia may produce a robust antidepressant effect and may even abolish suicidal thoughts within hours peaking within 24 hours But its antidepressant effect generally lasts only daysPrevious studies examining KET in TRD have been critiqued for lack of an effective placebo measure due to brief perceptual experiences associated with KET Thus the current study compares KET against a short-acting sedative The phases of this study compare response to a single KET injection to 6 injections over 2 weeks Next KET responders are given 1 injection a week for 3 weeks of either KET or the sedative agent to determine if beneficial effects of KET are maintained and to assess duration of its benefits after repeated administration The genetic profile of patients for a substance promoting contacts between cells and brain will be determined to investigate if response to KET could be predicted with that blood test This substance as well as several chemicals that produce inflammation will also be measured in the blood to investigate their role in the effect of KET Patients will receive in total no more than the equivalent of two to three anesthetic dose of KET Results from this study will help establish the beneficial effects of a single KET injection as a rapid intervention for major depression and to investigate the possibility of obtaining a prolonged antidepressant effect with repeated injections
Detailed Description:
Major depressive disorder MDD carries worldwide the largest burden of diseases among mental neurological and substance-use disorders measured in Disability Adjusted Life Years DALYs according to the World Health Organization WHO1 In turn MDD has the highest DALYs in middle to high income countries with ischemic cardiac diseases being second2 Although there are effective treatments for MDD a large proportion of patients do not achieve remission even after several attempts and any significant response when it manifests itself takes place a delay of a few weeks34 There is always urgency to treat MDD because although patients may have been ill for several weeks months and sometimes years they are often in a crisis situation when they consult The nature of the crisis may be familial financialprofessional or the consultation may take place because of intense personal suffering possibly involving suicidal ideation Consequently rapid therapeutic action and high remission rates represent the two major unmet needs for MDD
In the last few years considerable attention has been dedicated to the glutamate system as a possible contributor of the antidepressant response The most striking breakthrough has been the rapid antidepressant response of intravenous ketamine using doses that are about a quarter of the routinely utilized anesthetic dose in children and adults56 Unlike many anesthetic agents ketamine does not depress cardiovascular and respiratory parameters7 The primary action of ketamine is to block N-Methyl-D-Aspartate NMDA receptors The antidepressant response to ketamine often manifests itself within a few hours but is generally maximal after 24 hours8 Importantly a single infusion produces in the most subjects a robust decrease of suicidal ideation910 The drawback of this approach is however that its benefits generally disappear within a week6 Consequently much clinical work remains to be carried out in order to better understand and maintain the antidepressant response of ketamine
Specific aim 1 The first aim of this proposal is to characterize the antidepressant action of a single dose of ketamine in a truly double-blind paradigm Indeed even the low doses of ketamine 02-05 mgkg811 produce mild derealization and therefore the use a mere saline solution in prior studies has been inadequate as a control
1 To show that the infusion of a low dose of the short-acting benzodiazepine midazolam will serve as an adequate active control for ketamine It is hypothesized that because midazolam produces marked sedation it will serve as an adequate control
2 To determine if the brain-derived neutrophic factor BDNF mediates the antidepressant response In mice a VALMET polymorphism for the BDNF gene ketamine is devoid of effects The influence of this polymorphism will be evaluated in patients
Specific aim 2 The second goal of this proposal is to attempt enhancing and prolonging the antidepressant effect of ketamine by giving it repeatedly at a rate of three infusions per week for two consecutive weeks
1 To assess whether ketamine responders will improve further after a six infusions over two weeks It is hypothesized that ketamine non-responders following a single infusion will not show a significant improvement with repeated infusions of ketamine at a dose of 05 mgkg given three times a week for two weeks but that in responders repeated ketamine will produce a more robust and sustained antidepressant action than a single infusion
2 To assess whether the inflammatory status of the depressed patients is altered by the response to ketamine Pro-inflammatory mediators and cortisol are generally elevated in depression while melatonin is decreased These anomalies are typically restored with effective treatments This will be investigated in the light of the rapid antidepressant effect of ketamine
Specific aim 3 The third goal of this proposal is to prolong the antidepressant effect of ketamine In this third consecutive phase of the project ketamine-responsive patients will receive ketamine on a once weekly basis
1To demonstrate that the antidepressant effect of ketamine will be sustained over four weeks using a single infusion per week The antidepressant response to a single infusion of ketamine disappears within 7 days It is hypothesized that repeated infusions of ketamine at an interval of one week for four weeks will maintain the antidepressant effect
2To assess how long the antidepressant effect of repeated ketamine infusions will last in follow up After the first three phases of this project that will last about eight weeks the average duration of a standard antidepressant medication trial the responders will be monitored to follow their clinical evolution It is hypothesized that the responders will show a longer maintenance of their response than after the first infusion in phase one of the project
1 Phase I the double-blind crossover After patients will have been deemed eligible to participate in the study blood will be drawn for genotyping and various assays BDNF ValMet BDNF morning melatonin and salivary cortisol C-reactive protein IL-1β IL-2 IL-6 IL-8 IL-12 IFN-γ TNF-α and anti-inflammatory factors IL-4 and IL-10 as previously done in our laboratory101-102 They will be randomized to receive intravenously either 05 mgkg of ketamine the readily available racemic mixture or 30 µgkg of midazolam as a 250 ml infusion prepared in our unit over 40 minutes given by a research nurse in the presence of a study physician Their antidepressant drug regimen will not be altered throughout the study A clinician will evaluate their clinical status prior to the infusion using the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale MADRS103 and the Clinical Global Intensity-Severity CGI-S104 and the patients will rate themselves using the Quick Inventory Depressive Symptoms-Self-report QIDS-SR105 and a self-report questionnaire rating suicidality The patients will be assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-positive symptom scale106 at baseline before the infusion time 0 immediately after infusion is complete then at 60 and 120 minutes post time 0 The CGI-Improvement CGI-I104 will be used to obtain a clinical evaluation of overall change of their condition after two hours before discharging the patients two hours after the infusion The patients will come in the next day for an evaluation using the MADRS CGIs and the QIDS-SR and will be asked to guess what drug they received Four days after the infusion the patients will repeat the QIDS-SR at home and they will come in for an evaluation at day 7 If the patients did not respond or if they returned to 80 of their MADRS score before the infusion they will receive either ketamine or midazolam to complete the crossover protocol If the patients are maintaining more than a 20 improvement of their baseline MADRS score they will be asked to come in on a weekly basis for an assessment and will be asked to complete a QIDS-SR twice a week at days 10 14 18 21 and so on in order to assess how long the therapeutic effect lasts Patients who have not response to their second infusion or those found to have relapsed during the weekly follow-up visits will continue into phase II Patients who are unable ineligible or unwilling to enter phase II will be given a recommended treatment plan and returned to their family physician with a consultation plan or additionalalternative treatment options at the discretion of the study physician
In order to obtain an objective measure of their activity level and of the pattern of their sleep-wake cycle patients will wear an actimeter watch for several days during screening and throughout the protocol The data will be downloaded weekly during the visits
2 Phase II the repeated treatment over two weeks Once patients are deemed not to have responded to the second infusion or have lost their improvement relapsing to a MADRS score over 80 of their baseline score prior to the second infusion they will receive repeated ketamine infusions 05 mgkg They will be given 3 infusions per week for two weeks On visit 6 of phase 2 the patients will be assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-positive symptom scale106 at baseline before the infusion time 0 immediately after infusion is complete then at 60 and 120 minutes post time 0 Their clinical status will be assessed prior to each infusion using the MADRS the CGI-S the CGI-I and they will rate themselves using the QIDS-SR and a self-report questionnaire rating suicidality Patients will be assessed two to three days after the sixth infusion The ratings throughout phase II will help determine whether repeated administration produces a greater and sustained improvement than a single infusion Biological assays will be repeated at the end of Phase II
3 Phase III the repeated treatment over four weeks and the naturalistic follow-up
Two to three days after the sixth infusion patients not achieving a 50 improvement of their MADRS score when compared to their baseline score prior to the first of the six infusions will be taken out of the study and offered to be treated in our Research Unit using additional pharmacological andor psychotherapeutic approaches Patients improving by 50 or more on the MADRS scale will receive ketamine once a week for four weeks They will be assessed using the same scales as mentioned above prior to each infusion Patients will be assessed two to three days after the fourth weekly infusion The ratings throughout phase III will help determine whether repeated administration of ketamine is effective to maintain the beneficial action of a relatively more intense regimen of ketamine
Monitoring of the patients reaching more than 80 or more of their MADRS score when compared to their baseline score prior to the last four infusions will cease and will be offered to be treated in our Research Unit using additional pharmacological andor psychotherapeutic approaches Patients maintaining more than 20 improvement will be assessed weekly to determine how long the therapeutic effects of ketamine last Biological assays will be repeated at the end of Phase III
In the last few years considerable attention has been dedicated to the glutamate system as a possible contributor of the antidepressant response The most striking breakthrough has been the rapid antidepressant response of intravenous ketamine using doses that are about a quarter of the routinely utilized anesthetic dose in children and adults56 Unlike many anesthetic agents ketamine does not depress cardiovascular and respiratory parameters7 The primary action of ketamine is to block N-Methyl-D-Aspartate NMDA receptors The antidepressant response to ketamine often manifests itself within a few hours but is generally maximal after 24 hours8 Importantly a single infusion produces in the most subjects a robust decrease of suicidal ideation910 The drawback of this approach is however that its benefits generally disappear within a week6 Consequently much clinical work remains to be carried out in order to better understand and maintain the antidepressant response of ketamine
Specific aim 1 The first aim of this proposal is to characterize the antidepressant action of a single dose of ketamine in a truly double-blind paradigm Indeed even the low doses of ketamine 02-05 mgkg811 produce mild derealization and therefore the use a mere saline solution in prior studies has been inadequate as a control
1 To show that the infusion of a low dose of the short-acting benzodiazepine midazolam will serve as an adequate active control for ketamine It is hypothesized that because midazolam produces marked sedation it will serve as an adequate control
2 To determine if the brain-derived neutrophic factor BDNF mediates the antidepressant response In mice a VALMET polymorphism for the BDNF gene ketamine is devoid of effects The influence of this polymorphism will be evaluated in patients
Specific aim 2 The second goal of this proposal is to attempt enhancing and prolonging the antidepressant effect of ketamine by giving it repeatedly at a rate of three infusions per week for two consecutive weeks
1 To assess whether ketamine responders will improve further after a six infusions over two weeks It is hypothesized that ketamine non-responders following a single infusion will not show a significant improvement with repeated infusions of ketamine at a dose of 05 mgkg given three times a week for two weeks but that in responders repeated ketamine will produce a more robust and sustained antidepressant action than a single infusion
2 To assess whether the inflammatory status of the depressed patients is altered by the response to ketamine Pro-inflammatory mediators and cortisol are generally elevated in depression while melatonin is decreased These anomalies are typically restored with effective treatments This will be investigated in the light of the rapid antidepressant effect of ketamine
Specific aim 3 The third goal of this proposal is to prolong the antidepressant effect of ketamine In this third consecutive phase of the project ketamine-responsive patients will receive ketamine on a once weekly basis
1To demonstrate that the antidepressant effect of ketamine will be sustained over four weeks using a single infusion per week The antidepressant response to a single infusion of ketamine disappears within 7 days It is hypothesized that repeated infusions of ketamine at an interval of one week for four weeks will maintain the antidepressant effect
2To assess how long the antidepressant effect of repeated ketamine infusions will last in follow up After the first three phases of this project that will last about eight weeks the average duration of a standard antidepressant medication trial the responders will be monitored to follow their clinical evolution It is hypothesized that the responders will show a longer maintenance of their response than after the first infusion in phase one of the project
1 Phase I the double-blind crossover After patients will have been deemed eligible to participate in the study blood will be drawn for genotyping and various assays BDNF ValMet BDNF morning melatonin and salivary cortisol C-reactive protein IL-1β IL-2 IL-6 IL-8 IL-12 IFN-γ TNF-α and anti-inflammatory factors IL-4 and IL-10 as previously done in our laboratory101-102 They will be randomized to receive intravenously either 05 mgkg of ketamine the readily available racemic mixture or 30 µgkg of midazolam as a 250 ml infusion prepared in our unit over 40 minutes given by a research nurse in the presence of a study physician Their antidepressant drug regimen will not be altered throughout the study A clinician will evaluate their clinical status prior to the infusion using the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale MADRS103 and the Clinical Global Intensity-Severity CGI-S104 and the patients will rate themselves using the Quick Inventory Depressive Symptoms-Self-report QIDS-SR105 and a self-report questionnaire rating suicidality The patients will be assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-positive symptom scale106 at baseline before the infusion time 0 immediately after infusion is complete then at 60 and 120 minutes post time 0 The CGI-Improvement CGI-I104 will be used to obtain a clinical evaluation of overall change of their condition after two hours before discharging the patients two hours after the infusion The patients will come in the next day for an evaluation using the MADRS CGIs and the QIDS-SR and will be asked to guess what drug they received Four days after the infusion the patients will repeat the QIDS-SR at home and they will come in for an evaluation at day 7 If the patients did not respond or if they returned to 80 of their MADRS score before the infusion they will receive either ketamine or midazolam to complete the crossover protocol If the patients are maintaining more than a 20 improvement of their baseline MADRS score they will be asked to come in on a weekly basis for an assessment and will be asked to complete a QIDS-SR twice a week at days 10 14 18 21 and so on in order to assess how long the therapeutic effect lasts Patients who have not response to their second infusion or those found to have relapsed during the weekly follow-up visits will continue into phase II Patients who are unable ineligible or unwilling to enter phase II will be given a recommended treatment plan and returned to their family physician with a consultation plan or additionalalternative treatment options at the discretion of the study physician
In order to obtain an objective measure of their activity level and of the pattern of their sleep-wake cycle patients will wear an actimeter watch for several days during screening and throughout the protocol The data will be downloaded weekly during the visits
2 Phase II the repeated treatment over two weeks Once patients are deemed not to have responded to the second infusion or have lost their improvement relapsing to a MADRS score over 80 of their baseline score prior to the second infusion they will receive repeated ketamine infusions 05 mgkg They will be given 3 infusions per week for two weeks On visit 6 of phase 2 the patients will be assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-positive symptom scale106 at baseline before the infusion time 0 immediately after infusion is complete then at 60 and 120 minutes post time 0 Their clinical status will be assessed prior to each infusion using the MADRS the CGI-S the CGI-I and they will rate themselves using the QIDS-SR and a self-report questionnaire rating suicidality Patients will be assessed two to three days after the sixth infusion The ratings throughout phase II will help determine whether repeated administration produces a greater and sustained improvement than a single infusion Biological assays will be repeated at the end of Phase II
3 Phase III the repeated treatment over four weeks and the naturalistic follow-up
Two to three days after the sixth infusion patients not achieving a 50 improvement of their MADRS score when compared to their baseline score prior to the first of the six infusions will be taken out of the study and offered to be treated in our Research Unit using additional pharmacological andor psychotherapeutic approaches Patients improving by 50 or more on the MADRS scale will receive ketamine once a week for four weeks They will be assessed using the same scales as mentioned above prior to each infusion Patients will be assessed two to three days after the fourth weekly infusion The ratings throughout phase III will help determine whether repeated administration of ketamine is effective to maintain the beneficial action of a relatively more intense regimen of ketamine
Monitoring of the patients reaching more than 80 or more of their MADRS score when compared to their baseline score prior to the last four infusions will cease and will be offered to be treated in our Research Unit using additional pharmacological andor psychotherapeutic approaches Patients maintaining more than 20 improvement will be assessed weekly to determine how long the therapeutic effects of ketamine last Biological assays will be repeated at the end of Phase III
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
None
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None