Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have demonstrated that a single 50 mg dose of a ketamine nasal spray could alleviate depressive symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder within 24 hours. The authors conclude that, “This study provides the first controlled evidence for the rapid antidepressant effects of intranasal ketamine.”
According to the study published online in Biological Psychiatry, 18 patients received either ketamine or saline over a two-day period, and eight of the ketamine patients exhibited a response on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale versus one of the patients receiving saline. The ketamine was well tolerated with no safety concerns.
A press release from the Icahn School of Medicine notes that the school is party to a licensing agreement for ketamine as a treatment for therapy-resistant depression.
Read the Icahn School of Medicine press release.
Read the abstract.
