NCT03973268RecruitingPhase 1

Mechanism of Action Underlying Ketamine's Antidepressant Effects: The AMPA Throughput Theory in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Major Depression

The Mechanism of Action Underlying Ketamine's Antidepressant Effects: An Investigation of the AMPA Throughput Theory in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Major Depression

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 30 Oct 2026

Brief summary (registry, in English)

Background: Most drugs that treat mood disorders take a long time to work. Ketamine works within hours. A dose can last for a week or more. Certain receptors in the brain might help ketamine work. A drug that blocks these receptors might affect how it works. Objective: To see if the antidepressant response of ketamine is linked to AMPA receptors. Eligibility: Adults ages 18-70 with major depression disorder without psychotic features Design: Participants will be screened under protocol 01-M-0254. They will have blood tests and a physical exam. Participants will stay at the NIH Clinical Center for 5 weeks. Phase 1 lasts 4 weeks. For 2 weeks, participants will taper off their psychiatric medicine. Then they will have the following tests: * Blood draws * Psychological tests * MRI: Participants will lie in a machine that takes pictures of their brain. * MEG: Participants will lie down and do tasks. A cone lowered on their head will record brain activity. * Optional sleep tests: Electrodes on the scalp and body and belts around the body will monitor participants while they sleep. * Optional TMS: Participants will do tasks while a wire coil is held on their scalp. An electrical current will pass through the coil that affects brain activity. For phase 2, on day 0 participants will take the study drug or a placebo orally. While having a MEG, they will get ketamine infused into a vein in one arm while blood is drawn from a vein in the other arm. On day 1, participants will again take the study drug or a placebo orally. On days 3-7, they will repeat many of the phase 1 tests. Days 8 and 9 are optional and include an open label ketamine treatment and many of the phase 1 tests.

Status (registry): Recruiting
Phase (registry): Phase 1
Study type: Interventional
Enrollment: 70 (estimated)
First submitted: 1 Jun 2019
Start date: 21 Jan 2020
Primary completion date: 1 Feb 2027
Lead sponsor: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Diseases: Depression
NCT number: NCT03973268

What you commit to

Study type: Interventional · Phase 1
Planned participants: 70
From 21 Jan 2020 to the primary completion date, 1 Feb 2027
1 site in 1 country
Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.

Who cannot take part

Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.

Prior treatment

Subjects with a history of substance abuse or dependence diagnosis (DSM-IV) or substance use disorder (DSM-5 equivalent) (except for caffeine or nicotine dependence) within the preceding 3 months. In addition, subjects who currently are using drugs (except for caffeine or nicotine) must not have used illicit substances or known drugs of abuse in the 2 weeks prior to screening and must have a negative alcohol and drug urine test (except for prescribed benzodiazepines or stimulants) at screening.
Pregnant or nursing individuals or those who are physically able to become pregnant. Participants who are physically able to become pregnant or cause a pregnancy must use at least one form of effective birth control or remain completely abstinent from sexual intercourse during the entire period of study participation (or until the last clinical labs and ratings). Participants able to become pregnant must have negative urine pregnancy tests no more than 24 hours prior to receiving the study drugs and undergoing imaging procedures.
Treatment with any concomitant psychiatric medication prior to entering Phase II. \[Medications must be tapered during Phase I.\]
Treatment with any non-psychiatric medication/s.
Any use of opioid medication in the past 3 months
Treatment with a reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) prior to entering Phase II. \[Medications must be tapered during Phase I.\]
Treatment with fluoxetine or aripiprazole at the time of screening.
Unwilling to stop undergoing structured, individualized psychotherapy. (Such therapy, including CBT, will not be permitted during Phases I and II of the study.)
Participants with a positive urine for an illicit substance no more than 24 hours prior to ketamine treatment.

Other illness

Current psychotic features or a diagnosis of schizophrenia or any other psychotic disorder as defined in the DSM-IV or DSM-5.
Serious, unstable illnesses including hepatic, renal, gastroenterologic, respiratory, cardiovascular (including ischemic heart disease, coronary artery disease, atherosclerotic ischemic stroke, and atrial fibrillation), endocrinologic, neurologic, immunologic, or hematologic disease.
Presence of any medical illness likely to alter brain morphology and/or physiology (e.g., hypertension, diabetes) even if controlled by medications.
Positive HIV test
Presence of metallic (ferromagnetic) implants (e.g., heart pacemaker, aneurysm clip).
Subjects who have a history of aggressive behavior towards others

Lab values

Clinically significant abnormal laboratory tests.

Age

Subjects with one or more seizures without a clear and resolved etiology or current use of medication known to lower seizure threshold. History of seizure (regardless of age or etiology), history of epilepsy in self or first-degree relatives, stroke, brain surgery, head injury, or known structural brain lesion will be excluded from the TMS procedures.

Other

Phases I-II
(For imaging procedures) Subjects with hearing loss that has been clinically evaluated and diagnosed and may be worsened through participation in imaging procedures
Weight \> 119 kg
Participants who are uncomfortable in small closed spaces (have claustrophobia).
Are unable to lie comfortably supine for up to 90 minutes and would feel uncomfortable in the MRI and MEG machines.
Subjects who, in the investigator s judgment, pose a current serious suicidal or homicidal risk.
A current NIMH employee/staff or their immediate family member
- Open-Label Ketamine Treatment
Intolerable or serious adverse reaction to ketamine during Phase II
Pregnant or nursing individuals or those who plan to become pregnant.

Criteria the registry did not label

INCLUSION CRITERIA:
- Phases I-II
18 to 70 years of age.
Each subject must have a level of understanding sufficient to agree to all required tests and examinations and sign an informed consent document.
All subjects must have undergone a screening assessment under protocol 01-M-0254, "The Evaluation of Patients with Mood and Anxiety Disorders and Healthy Volunteers".
Subjects must fulfill DSM-IV or -5criteria for Major Depression (Major Depressive Disorder) without psychotic features, based on clinical assessment and informed by a structured diagnostic interview (SCID-P).
Subjects must have an initial score on the MADRS greater than or equal to 22 and a YMRS score of \<12 within one week of study entry and upon entry into Phase II.
Lack of response to two adequate antidepressant trials, with \[at least\] one in the current major depressive episode, operationally defined using the Antidepressant Treatment History Form (ATHF); a failed adequate trial of ECT \[or TMS\] would count as an adequate antidepressant trial.
Current major depressive episode lasting at least four weeks
Agree to be hospitalized
- Open-Label Ketamine Treatment
Participants must have met all inclusion criteria for and completed Study Phase II
Individuals who are able to get pregnant must be willing to remain sexually abstinent or use at least one form of effective birth control during participation in Phase III.

Age in the registry: 18 years to 70 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (1)

Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.

Site	City	Country	Site status
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status	Bethesda	United States	Recruiting

This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.