The American journal of psychiatry
June 1, 2026
Jason M Tucciarone, Igor D Bandeira, Christine Blasey et al.
5 citations
Ketamine rapidly reduces suicidal thoughts in major depressive disorder, but the effect is short-lived. In this trial, adults with major depression and active suicidal ideation received a single ketamine infusion, then were randomly assigned to take either low-dose buprenorphine or a placebo daily for four weeks. Suicidal thoughts dropped significantly more in the buprenorphine group (average decrease of 11.6 points on the Scale for Suicide Ideation) than in the placebo group (average decrease of 6.3 points). Depression scores did not differ between groups. No serious side effects occurred. Buprenorphine appears to sustain and boost ketamine's antisuicidal effects, offering a potentially safe, scalable option for suicide prevention.
Journal of psychiatric research
August 1, 2023
Igor D Bandeira, Gustavo C Leal, Fernanda S Correia-Melo et al.
In a pilot trial of six people with bipolar I or II disorder who had been depressed for at least four weeks, two intravenous infusions of arketamine (0.5 mg/kg followed one week later by 1 mg/kg) rapidly reduced depression severity. Depression scores on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale fell from a baseline mean of 36.66 to 27.83 one day after the first infusion and from 32.0 to 17.66 one day after the second infusion. The drug was well tolerated with almost no dissociation and no manic symptoms. The findings suggest arketamine has rapid-acting antidepressant properties for bipolar depression, consistent with earlier animal research on major depression.
Journal of affective disorders
June 1, 2023
Gustavo C Leal, Breno Souza-Marques, Rodrigo P Mello et al.
In a small pilot trial, the antidepressant arketamine was compared with placebo for treatment-resistant depression. Ten participants received both arketamine (0.5 mg/kg) and saline one week apart in a randomized, double-blind, crossover design. Depression improved over time, but there was no significant difference between arketamine and placebo. Dissociation and other adverse events were minimal. The study was underpowered, and the authors conclude that arketamine was not superior to placebo but was extremely safe, recommending larger trials with different dosing strategies.