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Therapeutic Application

Capturing the different health conditions that PAP may adress

S-(+)-ketamine-induced dissociative symptoms as a traumatic experience in patients with treatment-resistant depression

April 1, 2017 / Depressive Disorders, Ketamine, Papers, Psychology, Publications / By / , , ,

Abstract

Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, is a rapid-acting antidepressant and anti-suicidal agent.1 However, most clinical trials assessing its antidepressant action involve RS-(±)-ketamine, which is considered a more dissociative drug than S-(+)-ketamine.2 In this report, we describe severe psychotomimetic side effects after S-(+)-ketamine infusion therapy in two patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), contrasting with previous evidence that S-(+)-ketamine is less prone to inducing these side effects.
Correia-Melo, F. S., Silva, S. S., Araújo-de-Freitas, L., & Quarantini, L. C. (2017). S-(+)-ketamine-induced dissociative symptoms as a traumatic experience in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 39(2), 188-189. 10.1590/1516-4446-2016-2070
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Ketamine for Depression, 1: Clinical Summary of Issues Related to Efficacy, Adverse Effects, and Mechanism of Action

April 1, 2017 / Depressive Disorders, Ketamine, Papers, Psychology / By /

Abstract

Ketamine is an anesthetic drug that is also used for off-label indications such as the mediation of analgesia and sedation in various settings. It is additionally recognized as an agent with antidepressant potential. For depression, it is most commonly administered as a slow intravenous infusion in subanesthetic doses (usually 0.5 mg/kg). As an antidepressant, is strikingly different from conventional antidepressant drugs in that it brings about rapid and marked attenuation of depressive symptoms even in patients with refractory depression. The benefits are observed within hours of administration, peak after about a day, and are lost 3-12 days later. Patients who do not benefit after the initial dose may benefit with serial dosing or at higher doses. Benefits can be maintained for weeks to months by the continuation of ketamine sessions at 2- to 4-day intervals. Adverse effects include dissociative and psychotomimetic changes that are almost always mild and transient, if present; transient elevation of heart rate and blood pressure often occur. These changes are usually well tolerated and are very seldom responsible for treatment discontinuation. Whereas ketamine is an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist, and whereas much is known about its different biological effects, its actions that mediate the antidepressant response are presently not known for certain. Although big data on ketamine are presently unavailable, the drug holds promise in the treatment of depression, especially refractory depression.
Andrade, C. (2017). Ketamine for Depression, 1: Clinical Summary of Issues Related to Efficacy, Adverse Effects, and Mechanism of Action. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 78(4), e415. 10.4088/JCP.17f11567
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A Consensus Statement on the Use of Ketamine in the Treatment of Mood Disorders

April 1, 2017 / Depressive Disorders, Ketamine, Papers, Psychology / By / , , , , , ,

Abstract

IMPORTANCE:
Several studies now provide evidence of ketamine hydrochloride’s ability to produce rapid and robust antidepressant effects in patients with mood and anxiety disorders that were previously resistant to treatment. Despite the relatively small sample sizes, lack of longer-term data on efficacy, and limited data on safety provided by these studies, they have led to increased use of ketamine as an off-label treatment for mood and other psychiatric disorders.
OBSERVATIONS:
This review and consensus statement provides a general overview of the data on the use of ketamine for the treatment of mood disorders and highlights the limitations of the existing knowledge. While ketamine may be beneficial to some patients with mood disorders, it is important to consider the limitations of the available data and the potential risk associated with the drug when considering the treatment option.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:
The suggestions provided are intended to facilitate clinical decision making and encourage an evidence-based approach to using ketamine in the treatment of psychiatric disorders considering the limited information that is currently available. This article provides information on potentially important issues related to the off-label treatment approach that should be considered to help ensure patient safety.

Sanacora, G., Frye, M. A., McDonald, W., Mathew, S. J., Turner, M. S., Schatzberg, A. F., … & Nemeroff, C. B. (2017). A consensus statement on the use of ketamine in the treatment of mood disorders. Jama psychiatry, 74(4), 399-405. 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0080
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Use of Ketamine in Clinical PracticeA Time for Optimism and Caution

April 1, 2017 / Depressive Disorders, Ketamine, Papers, Psychology / By / ,

Abstract

Increasing evidence, primarily from small studies, supports the idea that the dissociative anesthetic ketamine has rapid antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-refractory major depression.1 The beneficial effects of ketamine are observed within hours of administration and can last approximately 1 week. Given that up to one-third of patients with major depression fail current treatments,2 there is a clear need for novel and more effective treatments. Results to date have led to increasing off-label use of ketamine in clinical practices, with little guidance about clinical administration. In this issue of the JAMA Psychiatry, Sanacora and colleagues3 provide a much-needed consensus statement to help guide clinical use of ketamine.
Zorumski, C. F., & Conway, C. R. (2017). Use of ketamine in clinical practice: a time for optimism and caution. Jama psychiatry, 74(4), 405-406. 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0078
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An online survey of tobacco smoking cessation associated with naturalistic psychedelic use

March 28, 2017 / LSD, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Psychology, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / By / , , ,

Abstract

Data suggest psychedelics such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) may hold therapeutic potential in the treatment of addictions, including tobacco dependence. This retrospective cross-sectional anonymous online survey characterized 358 individuals (52 females) who reported having quit or reduced smoking after ingesting a psychedelic in a non-laboratory setting ⩾1 year ago. On average, participants smoked 14 cigarettes/day for 8 years, and had five previous quit attempts before their psychedelic experience. Of the 358 participants, 38% reported continuous smoking cessation after psychedelic use (quitters). Among quitters, 74% reported >2 years’ abstinence. Of the 358 participants, 28% reported a persisting reduction in smoking (reducers), from a mode of 300 cigarettes/month before, to a mode of 1 cigarette/month after the experience. Among reducers, 62% reported >2 years of reduced smoking. Finally, 34% of the 358 participants (relapsers) reported a temporary smoking reduction before returning to baseline smoking levels, with a mode time range to relapse of 3–6 months. Relapsers rated their psychedelic experience significantly lower in personal meaning and spiritual significance than both other groups. Participants across all groups reported less severe affective withdrawal symptoms (e.g. depression, craving) after psychedelic use compared with previous quit attempts, suggesting a potential mechanism of action for psychedelic-associated smoking cessation/reduction. Changes in life priorities/values were endorsed as the most important psychological factor associated with smoking cessation/reduction. Results suggest psychedelics may hold promise in treating tobacco addiction as potentially mediated by spiritual experience, changed priorities/values, and improved emotional regulation.

Johnson, M. W., Garcia-Romeu, A., Johnson, P. S., & Griffiths, R. R. (2017). An online survey of tobacco smoking cessation associated with naturalistic psychedelic use. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 0269881116684335. 10.1177/0269881116684335
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Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates

March 26, 2017 / Anxiety Disorders / PTSD, Depressive Disorders, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Neuroscience, Papers, Psychology, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / By / ,

Abstract

This chapter begins with a brief review of descriptions and definitions of mystical-type experiences and the historical connection between classic hallucinogens and mystical experiences. The chapter then explores the empirical literature on experiences with classic hallucinogens in which claims about mystical or religious experiences have been made. A psychometrically validated questionnaire is described for the reliable measurement of mystical-type experiences occasioned by classic hallucinogens. Controlled laboratory studies show that under double-blind conditions that provide significant controls for expectancy bias, psilocybin can occasion complete mystical experiences in the majority of people studied. These effects are dose-dependent, specific to psilocybin compared to placebo or a psychoactive control substance, and have enduring impact on the moods, attitudes, and behaviors of participants as assessed by self-report of participants and ratings by community observers. Other studies suggest that enduring personal meaning in healthy volunteers and therapeutic outcomes in patients, including reduction and cessation of substance abuse behaviors and reduction of anxiety and depression in patients with a life-threatening cancer diagnosis, are related to the occurrence of mystical experiences during drug sessions. The final sections of the chapter draw parallels in human neuroscience research between the neural bases of experiences with classic hallucinogens and the neural bases of meditative practices for which claims of mystical-type experience are sometimes made. From these parallels, a functional neural model of mystical experience is proposed, based on changes in the default mode network of the brain that have been observed after the administration of classic hallucinogens and during meditation practices for which mystical-type claims have been made.
Barrett, F. S., & Griffiths, R. R. (2017). Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates. 10.1007/7854_2017_474
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Altered peripheral immune profiles in treatment-resistant depression: response to ketamine and prediction of treatment outcome

March 21, 2017 / Depressive Disorders, Ketamine, Papers, Psychiatry & Medicine, Psychology / By / , , , , , ,

Abstract

A subset of patients with depression have elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines, and some studies demonstrate interaction between inflammatory factors and treatment outcome. However, most studies focus on only a narrow subset of factors in a patient sample. In the current study, we analyzed broad immune profiles in blood from patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) at baseline and following treatment with the glutamate modulator ketamine. Serum was analyzed from 26 healthy control and 33 actively depressed TRD patients free of antidepressant medication, and matched for age, sex and body mass index. All subjects provided baseline blood samples, and TRD subjects had additional blood draw at 4 and 24 h following intravenous infusion of ketamine (0.5 mg kg−1). Samples underwent multiplex analysis of 41 cytokines, chemokines and growth factors using quantitative immunoassay technology. Our a priori hypothesis was that TRD patients would show elevations in canonical pro-inflammatory cytokines; analyses demonstrated significant elevation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6. Further exploratory analyses revealed significant regulation of four additional soluble factors in patients with TRD. Several cytokines showed transient changes in level after ketamine, but none correlated with treatment response. Low pretreatment levels of fibroblast growth factor 2 were associated with ketamine treatment response. In sum, we found that patients with TRD demonstrate a unique pattern of increased inflammatory mediators, chemokines and colony-stimulating factors, providing support for the immune hypothesis of TRD. These patterns suggest novel treatment targets for the subset of patients with TRD who evidence dysregulated immune functioning.
Kiraly, D. D., Horn, S. R., Van Dam, N. T., Costi, S., Schwartz, J., Kim-Schulze, S., … & Iosifescu, D. V. (2017). Altered peripheral immune profiles in treatment-resistant depression: response to ketamine and prediction of treatment outcome. Translational psychiatry, 7(3), e1065. 10.1038/tp.2017.31
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Type A monoamine oxidase and serotonin are coordinately involved in depressive disorders: from neurotransmitter imbalance to impaired neurogenesis

March 14, 2017 / Ayahuasca, Depressive Disorders, Neuroscience, Papers / By / , ,

Abstract

Type A monoamine oxidase (MAOA) catabolizes monoamine transmitters, serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine, and plays a major role in the onset, progression and therapy of neuropsychiatric disorders. In depressive disorders, increase in MAOA expression and decrease in brain levels of serotonin and norepinephrine are proposed as the major pathogenic factors. The functional polymorphism of MAOA gene and genes in serotonin signal pathway are associated with depression. This review presents recent advance in studies on the role of MAOA in major depressive disorder and related emotional disorders. MAOA and serotonin regulate the prenatal development and postnatal maintenance of brain architecture and neurocircuit, as shown by MAOA-deficient humans and MAO knockout animal models. Impaired neurogenesis in the mature hippocampus has been proposed as “adult neurogenesis” hypothesis of depression. MAOA modulates the sensitivity to stress in the stages of brain development and maturation, and the interaction of gene–environmental factors in the early stage regulates the onset of depressive behaviors in adulthood. Vice versa environmental factors affect MAOAexpression by epigenetic regulation. MAO inhibitors not only restore compromised neurotransmitters, but also protect neurons from cell death in depression through induction of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and prosurvival neurotrophic factors, especially brain-derived neurotrophic factor, the deficiency of which is detected in depression. This review discusses novel role of MAOA and serotonin in the pathogenesis and therapy of depressive disorders.

Naoi, M., Maruyama, W., & Shamoto-Nagai, M. (2017). Type A monoamine oxidase and serotonin are coordinately involved in depressive disorders: from neurotransmitter imbalance to impaired neurogenesis. Journal of Neural Transmission, 1-14. 10.1007/s0070
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The Nucleus Accumbens and Ketamine Treatment in Major Depressive Disorder

March 8, 2017 / Depressive Disorders, Ketamine, Neuroscience, Papers / By / , , , , , ,

Abstract

Animal models of depression repeatedly showed stress-induced nucleus accumbens (NAc) hypertrophy. Recently, ketamine was found to normalize this stress-induced NAc structural growth. Here, we investigated NAc structural abnormalities in major depressive disorder (MDD) in two cohorts. Cohort A included a cross-sectional sample of 34 MDD and 26 healthy control (HC) subjects, with high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to estimate NAc volumes. Proton MR spectroscopy (1H MRS) was used to divide MDD subjects into two subgroups: glutamate-based depression (GBD) and non-GBD. A separate longitudinal sample (cohort B) included 16 MDD patients who underwent MRI at baseline then 24 h following intravenous infusion of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg). In cohort A, we found larger left NAc volume in MDD compared to controls (Cohen’s d=1.05), but no significant enlargement in the right NAc (d=0.44). Follow-up analyses revealed significant subgrouping effects on the left (d⩾1.48) and right NAc (d⩾0.95) with larger bilateral NAc in non-GBD compared to GBD and HC. NAc volumes were not different between GBD and HC. In cohort B, ketamine treatment reduced left NAc, but increased left hippocampal, volumes in patients achieving remission. The cross-sectional data provided the first evidence of enlarged NAc in patients with MDD. These NAc abnormalities were limited to patients with non-GBD. The pilot longitudinal data revealed a pattern of normalization of left NAc and hippocampal volumes particularly in patients who achieved remission following ketamine treatment, an intriguing preliminary finding that awaits replication.
Abdallah, C. G., Jackowski, A., Salas, R., Gupta, S., Sato, J. R., Mao, X., … & Mathew, S. J. (2017). The nucleus accumbens and ketamine treatment in major depressive disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology, 1, 8. 10.1038/npp.2017.49
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Ketamine as a Rapid-Acting Antidepressant: Promising Clinical and Basic Research

March 8, 2017 / Depressive Disorders, Ketamine, Neuroscience, Papers, Psychology / By / ,

Abstract

Suicidal ideation and attempts are a common medical emergency, accounting for about 650,000 adult evaluations per year in emergency settings (1). Depressive disorders are a major driving force behind this, but first-line antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), can take months to work, making them of limited use in acutely suicidal patients. Potentially safe and fast-acting interventions would be invaluable in acute situations until standard antidepressants have time to take effect.
Ketamine, best known as an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist commonly used as an anesthetic, has recently drawn attention for possibly filling the role. At lower doses it exhibits strong antidepressant effects in many patients, and it acts on the order of minutes. Despite these promising effects, its use as an antidepressant has been controversial, as ketamine is also a Schedule III controlled substance that is used recreationally for its dissociative and hallucinogenic effects. Furthermore, the full mechanism of action regarding its antidepressant effects has long remained unclear.
In the present article, we review research surrounding ketamine’s potential as a fast-acting antidepressant from a “two-pronged” approach: first, summarizing established and new knowledge on its mechanism of action and second, reviewing clinical research addressing its potential to quickly reduce depression and suicidality.
Tuck, A. N., & Ghazali, D. H. (2017). Ketamine as a Rapid-Acting Antidepressant: Promising Clinical and Basic Research. American Journal of Psychiatry Residents’ Journal, 12(3), 3-5. 10.1176/appi.ajp-rj.2017.120302
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