CClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT02219867KetamieUpdated Aug 29, 2014

Ketamine Infusions for Major Depression Disorder

An interventional study of Ketamine in Depressive Disorder, Major, sponsored by Sheba Medical Center. Status unknown at 1 site in Israel. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 90 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2014-08-29.

Sponsored by Sheba Medical Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Aug 2014), so the status shown — last known as Not yet recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
10
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 90 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Ketamine has been safely used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia for decades and more recently has been used for chronic pain. Ketamine is a noncompetitive, high-affinity antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptor, with additional effects on dopamine and μ-opioid receptors. During the last 9 years several uncontrolled reports have been published, showing a rapid and impressive effect of ketamine in TRD patients (Berman, Cappiello et al. 2000; Zarate, Singh et al. 2006; Mathew, Murrough et al. 2010; Aan Het Rot, Zarate et al. 2012; Mathew, Shah et al. 2012; Murrough, Iosifescu et al. 2013). Recently three placebo-controlled trials showed that a single dose of sub-anesthetic, (0.5 mg/kg) slow intravenous (IV) ketamine improves depressive symptoms dramatically. Across studies, a clinically significant antidepressant response was maintained for up to 72 hours in 12 of 25 patients. Nonetheless, all but two patients relapsed \<2 weeks post-ketamine (Zarate, Singh et al. 2006; aan Het Rot, Zarate et al. 2012). Rot et al. showed that repeated IV ketamine infusions prolongs the duration of improvement.

The investigators believe that the data presented above allows us to provide ketamine treatment here in the Sheba Medical Center for TRD patients.

Read the detailed description

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide (Collins, Patel et al. 2011). A substantial proportion of patients do not achieve adequate remission despite multiple antidepressant trials and augmentation strategies (Rush, Trivedi et al. 2006; Weissman, Pilowsky et al. 2006). Treatment-resistant major depression (TRD) is defined as an insufficient response to at least two adequate antidepressant trials (Rush, Trivedi et al. 2006). Many of these patients are referred to previous somatic treatment e.g. electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), rapid Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) and Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS), all of which have serious disadvantages and/or limited efficacy.

Ketamine has been safely used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia for decades and more recently has been used for chronic pain. Ketamine is a noncompetitive, high-affinity antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptor, with additional effects on dopamine and μ-opioid receptors. During the last 9 years several uncontrolled reports have been published, showing a rapid and impressive effect of ketamine in TRD patients (Berman, Cappiello et al. 2000; Zarate, Singh et al. 2006; Mathew, Murrough et al. 2010; Aan Het Rot, Zarate et al. 2012; Mathew, Shah et al. 2012; Murrough, Iosifescu et al. 2013). Recently three placebo-controlled trials showed that a single dose of sub-anesthetic, (0.5 mg/kg) slow intravenous (IV) ketamine improves depressive symptoms dramatically. Across studies, a clinically significant antidepressant response was maintained for up to 72 hours in 12 of 25 patients. Nonetheless, all but two patients relapsed \<2 weeks post-ketamine (Zarate, Singh et al. 2006; aan Het Rot, Zarate et al. 2012). Rot et al. showed that repeated IV ketamine infusions prolongs the duration of improvement.

The investigators believe that the data presented above allows us to provide ketamine treatment here in the Sheba Medical Center for TRD patients.

02

Conditions studied

  • Depressive Disorder, Major

Keywords

  • ketamine
  • MDD
03

In context

Depressive Disorder

4,845 studies on the registry are indexed under Depressive Disorder; 514 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 10 is below the median of 80 across 3,999 interventional studies indexed under Depressive Disorder.

Browse Depressive Disorder studies →

Lead sponsor

Sheba Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 660 studies on the registry; 63 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 90 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Diagnosis of Major Depressive disorder, chronic and/or recurrent of at least at moderate severity, determined as reflected by baseline scores of ≥32 on the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology -Clinician rated IDS-C30
  • Patients with demonstrated insufficient response to ≥2 adequate antidepressant trials in the current episode

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Current psychotic or dissociative symptoms
  • Severe personality disorder with psychosis or dissociative symptoms
  • Lifetime history of psychotic mania
  • Substance use disorder
  • Current suicidal ideation
  • Uncontrolled elevated blood pressure, non-sinus rhythm, unstable ischemic heart disease, uncorrected hyper thyroidism, and for women, pregnancy or the initiation of or female hormonal treatment \<3 months
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
10 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Ketamine

    Active Comparator

    Drug: Ketamine

Interventions

  • DrugKetamine

    Drug (including placebo)

    Also known as: ketalar

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Montgomery Asberg Rating scale - MADRS

    Time frame: 24 hours after treatment

Secondary outcomes

  1. Side effects monitoring

    Blood pressure monitoring Dissociative symptoms detection and description

    Time frame: Up to 4 hours after ketamine infustion

Other outcomes

  1. Hamilston depression Rating Scale

    Time frame: Up to 30 days from last treatment

07

Study locations

1 site
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 29, 2014, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02219867
Lead sponsor
Sheba Medical Center
Collaborators
Tel Aviv University
Responsible party
Dr. Revital Amiaz (Doctor, Sheba Medical Center) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 19, 2014
Start date
Aug 2014
Primary completion
Jan 2016 (estimated)
Completion
Aug 2017 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 29, 2014

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is status unknown, as verified in Aug 2014. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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