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FDA reports suggest antidepressant efficacy of ketamine

Analysis of population-level data suggested significant efficacy of ketamine for depression and pain.

“Current FDA-approved treatments for depression fail for millions of people because they don't work or don’t work fast enough,” study researcher Ruben Abagyan, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego, said in a press release. “This study extends small-scale clinical evidence that ketamine can be used to alleviate depression, and provides needed solid statistical support for wider clinical applications and possibly larger scale clinical trials.”

To determine antidepressant efficacy of ketamine, researchers conducted Inverse-Frequency Analysis of 8 million reports from the FDA Adverse Effect Reporting System for the first quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2016.

Analysis indicated individuals who received ketamine were significantly less likely to report depression, compared with individuals who took any other combination of drugs for pain.

Individuals who received ketamine were significantly less likely to report pain and opioid-induced side effects, suggesting ketamine’s potential as an adjunct treatment in pain management.

Inverse-Frequency Analysis indicated significant statistical support for antidepressant efficacy of diclofenac and minocycline, according to researchers.

“The approach we used here could be applied to any number of other conditions, and may reveal new and important uses for thousands of already approved drugs, without large investments in additional clinical trials,” study researcher Tigran Makunts, of the University of California, San Diego, said in the release. – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.