Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
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Neuropsychopharmacology · May 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialCourse of improvement in depressive symptoms to a single intravenous infusion of ketamine vs add-on riluzole: results from a 4-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
The N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist ketamine has rapid antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant major depression (TRD); these effects have been reported to last for 1 week in some patients. However, the extent and duration of this antidepressant effect over longer periods has not been well characterized under controlled conditions. Riluzole, a glutamatergic modulator with antidepressant and synaptic plasticity-enhancing effects, could conceivably be used to promote the antidepressant effects of ketamine. ⋯ Overall, 27% of ketamine responders had not relapsed by 4 weeks following a single ketamine infusion. The average time to relapse was 13.2 days (SE=2.2). However, the difference between the riluzole and placebo treatment groups was not significant, suggesting that the combination of riluzole with ketamine treatment did not significantly alter the course of antidepressant response to ketamine alone.