The KARMA-Dep Trial will investigate whether patients recover more quickly from depression with ketamine rather than with a placebo.
Ketamine is an anaesthetic drug routinely used in clinical practice. It acts as an antagonist of the N-methyl-D-asparate (NMDA) receptor and thus targets the excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter glutamate. Of interest in mental health research, a single infusion of a low sub-anaesthetic dose of ketamine can improve depressive symptoms with efficacy onset within one hour post infusion.
The effect of a single infusion can be sustained for up to several days. Because of these remarkable findings, there is now great interest in assessing ketamine as a novel therapy for depression.
The KARMA-Dep Trial will investigate whether patients recover more quickly from depression with ketamine rather than with a placebo. Treatments prescribed by their treating team will continue as usual. The study will also be investigating potential biomarkers associated with depression. We will be exploring a sample of participants with a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder.