Prolonged Remission of Major Depressive Disorder After Single Nitrous Oxide Inhalation Treatment
P. Nagele, Frank Brown, Victoria Bass, D. Yohanna
Frontiers in Psychiatry July 17, 2020 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00692 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA patient with severe recurrent treatment-resistant major depression experienced full remission lasting more than one month after a single nitrous oxide (laughing gas) inhalation treatment. Previous studies had shown antidepressant effects starting within two hours and lasting up to one week, but it was unknown whether effects could persist longer. This case provides evidence that remission can extend beyond one month.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | Patient with severe recurrent treatment-resistant major depression |
| Intervention | Nitrous oxide inhalation |
| Duration | More than 1 month follow-up |
| Keywords | Medicine |
| Key finding | A single nitrous oxide inhalation treatment led to full remission lasting more than one month in a patient with severe recurrent treatment-resistant major depression. |
Abstract
Nitrous oxide (N2O, laughing gas) has shown early promise as a rapidly acting treatment for treatmentresistant major depression (1–3). Antidepressant effects of nitrous oxide in these studies started within 2 h and lasted up to 1 week. Due to the study design, however, it was impossible to determine whether antidepressant efficacy lasted beyond 1 week after nitrous oxide administration. There is currently no evidence showing how long antidepressant effects of nitrous oxide last. Here, we present a case where a patient with severe recurrent treatment resistant major depression experienced full remission, which lasted more than 1 month, after a single nitrous oxide inhalation treatment.