The Effect of Ketamine on Mechanises Underlying Suicidal Ideation and Drug-resistant Major Depression
Double‑blind, randomised, parallel Phase III trial (n=100) comparing daily oral sub‑anesthetic ketamine for 21 days versus placebo in patients after a suicide attempt; includes fMRI mechanistic substudy and a healthy volunteer crossover (n≈40) with IV ketamine.
Details
This is a randomized, triple‑blind, placebo‑controlled parallel trial evaluating daily oral sub‑anesthetic ketamine for 21 days versus oral placebo in patients admitted after a suicide attempt; primary aim is rapid reduction in suicidal ideation.
A subset of patient participants will undergo IV ketamine and fMRI before and after the first dose to probe mechanisms relating embodied self and emotion; outcomes include suicide and depression scales and neuroimaging measures.
A secondary healthy‑volunteer crossover (≈40 participants) will receive IV ketamine and IV saline in two sessions (1–6 weeks apart) with vRHI and pain perception tasks to investigate mechanistic effects.