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Social Anxiety DisorderEarly Phase 1NCT02083926

Ketamine Infusion for Social Anxiety Disorder

A Early Phase 1 study testing Ketamine and Saline in people with Social Anxiety Disorder, run by Yale University at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is common and causes significant impairment. First-line treatments for Social Anxiety Disorder are only partially effective. Many SAD patients experience little or inadequate symptom relief with available treatments. Ketamine is a potent NMDA receptor antagonist. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 65 years
Conditions the study is for
Social Anxiety Disorder
What is being tested?
Ketamine and Saline
Type of treatment
Injection or infusion
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
18 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
2 Jan 2015to 27 Sep 2016
Phase
Early Phase 1
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 65 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Adult between the ages of 18 and 65 years
  • Meet DSM IV criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder by structured clinical interview (SCID) and have a LSAS >60 with or without co-morbid MDD

Who cannot join

  • Positive pregnancy test
  • History of substance abuse disorder within the last 6 months or positive urine toxicology on screening (within the previous 6 months).
  • History of pervasive developmental disorder or psychotic disorder by DSM-IV-TR criteria
  • Medical comorbidity that significantly increases the risks associated with ketamine infusion (e.g. untreated hypertension, significant cardiovascular disease)

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • Connecticut Mental Health Center

    New Haven, Connecticut, 06519

Other trials in United States

About this study

  • Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is common and causes significant impairment.
  • First-line treatments for Social Anxiety Disorder are only partially effective. Many SAD patients experience little or inadequate symptom relief with available treatments.
  • Ketamine is a potent NMDA receptor antagonist. Ketamine represents an agent with a potentially novel mechanism of action for the treatment of anxiety disorders.
  • Ketamine has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of psychiatric disorders closely related to Social Anxiety Disorder including Major Depression, Bipolar Depression and possibly Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Ketamine represents the possibility to provide rapid symptom relief to patients with SAD and may provide the mechanism for future drug development to treat SAD more rapidly and effectively.

Read the detailed description

Roughly one-third to one-half of patients with generalized SAD do not experience significant clinical benefit from current evidence-based treatment for SAD such as pharmacotherapy with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) or venlafaxine and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Failure of anxiety relief in patients with SAD is a source of substantial morbidity, distress, and decreases in quality of life. Novel pharmacological treatments are needed to improve patient outcomes with SAD.

Converging lines of evidence from neuroimaging and pharmacological studies support the importance of glutamate abnormalities in the pathogenesis of SAD. In a Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) study, an elevated glutamate to creatinine ratio was found in the anterior cingulate cortex of SAD patients when compared to healthy controls. Elevated thalamic glutamine levels have been demonstrated in patients with SAD. Pre-clinical rodent studies have also established a strong link between glutamate regulation and anxiety.

Ketamine is a potent antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, a major type of glutamate receptor in the brain. Ketamine is routinely used for anesthetic induction because of its dissociative properties. However in research studies, ketamine is effective treatment in reducing symptoms in depressive and possibly anxiety disorders. In multiple controlled clinical studies, ketamine has produced a rapid antidepressant effect in unipolar and bipolar depression. Ketamine's anti-depressant effects peak 1-3 days following infusion. Ketamine's antidepressant effect is observed long after ketamine has been metabolized and excreted by the body and after ketamine's sedative and dissociative effects have dissipated.

The results of several clinical studies suggest that ketamine may also have significant anxiolytic effects. Patients with major depressive disorder given a single ketamine infusion have shown strong and significant reductions in comorbid anxiety symptoms. A trial including 11 depressed patients demonstrated a significant reduction in anxiety symptoms (Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A)) following ketamine infusion. This improvement is supported by one of the earlier placebo-controlled trials of ketamine which demonstrated that the psychic anxiety item was one of 4 (out of 21) items on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) demonstrating significant improvement after ketamine infusion.

The investigators goal is to conduct a randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study to explore the efficacy and time course of action of intravenous ketamine in the treatment of SAD.

Being tested
Ketamine, Saline
Keywords
Social Anxiety Disorder, SAD, Ketamine
Medical subject headings
Phobia, Social

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • KetamineDrug

    Also called Ketalar

    Ketamine (a single 0.5mg/kg intravenously over 40 minutes).

  • SalineOther

    Also called Placebo

    Saline (a single 0.5mg/kg intravenously over 40 minutes).

Study groups in NCT02083926
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Ketamine infusionExperimentalA ketamine infusion was given on day 0 (28) at a dose of 0.5mg/kg over 40 minutes. Assessments were conducted pre-infusion, 3-h post-infusion, and days 1 (1+28), 2 (2+28), 3 (3+28), 5 (5+28), 7 (7+28), 10 (10+28) and 14 (14+28) post-infusion.
Receives: Drug: Ketamine
Saline infusionExperimentalA saline infusion was given on day 0 (28) at a dose of 0.5mg/kg over 40 minutes. Assessments were conducted pre-infusion, 3-h post-infusion, and days 1 (1+28), 2 (2+28), 3 (3+28), 5 (5+28), 7 (7+28), 10 (10+28) and 14 (14+28) post-infusion.
Receives: Other: Saline

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety Symptoms (VAS-anxiety)

    Instrument that tries to measure anxiety, that is believed to range across a continuum of values and cannot easily be directly measured.We used a straight horizontal line of 100 mm in length. The ends were defined as the extreme limits of the parameter to be measured (anxiety); oriented from the left (no anxiety) to the right (worst anxiety ever felt). The patient marks on the line the point that they feel represents their perception of their current state.The VAS score is determined by measuring in millimeters from the left hand end of the line to the point that the patient marks.

    We examined Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for anxiety symptoms at screening, 1 hour prior to infusion, 1, 2 and 3 hours after infusion, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 days following a single ketamine/saline infusion.

    Measured: Day 1 (1+28)

  2. Liebowitz Social Anxiety Score (LSAS)

    Clinician-administered scale for the assessment of fear and avoidance found in social phobia (SAD); it has 24 items divided into 2 subscales, 13 for performance anxiety, and 11 for social situations each rated from 0 to 3 (0=none,1=mild,2=moderate,3=definite). The sum scores for Fear and Avoidance results in an overall score (max 144 points). There are 4 clinician subscales: fear of social interaction, fear of performance, avoidance of social interaction and avoidance of performance 0 to 30= SAD is unlikely 30 to 60=SAD is probable 60 to 90=SADis very probable >90= SAD highly probable

    Measured: Day 1 (1+28)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted11 Mar 2014 (estimated)
  2. Study start2 Jan 2015
  3. Primary completion27 Sep 2016
  4. Study completion27 Sep 2016

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Early Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Masking
Quadruple blind
Who is masked
Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
18 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02083926
Sponsor's protocol ID
1310012947
Status last verified
Feb 2021
First submitted
5 Mar 2014
Last updated
18 Mar 2021
Data monitoring committee
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Abdallah CG, Averill LA, Collins KA, Geha P, Schwartz J, Averill C, DeWilde KE, Wong E, Anticevic A, Tang CY, Iosifescu DV, Charney DS, Murrough JW. Ketamine Treatment and Global Brain Connectivity in Major Depression. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2017 May;42(6):1210-1219. doi: 10.1038/npp.2016.186. Epub 2016 Sep 8.

    PubMed 27604566
  • Aitken RC. Measurement of feelings using visual analogue scales. Proc R Soc Med. 1969 Oct;62(10):989-93. doi: 10.1177/003591576906201005. No abstract available.

    PubMed 4899510
  • Davey HM, Barratt AL, Butow PN, Deeks JJ. A one-item question with a Likert or Visual Analog Scale adequately measured current anxiety. J Clin Epidemiol. 2007 Apr;60(4):356-60. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2006.07.015. Epub 2006 Dec 27.

    PubMed 17346609
  • Freitas-Ferrari MC, Hallak JE, Trzesniak C, Filho AS, Machado-de-Sousa JP, Chagas MH, Nardi AE, Crippa JA. Neuroimaging in social anxiety disorder: a systematic review of the literature. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2010 May 30;34(4):565-80. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.02.028. Epub 2010 Mar 4.

    PubMed 20206659
  • Glue P, Medlicott NJ, Harland S, Neehoff S, Anderson-Fahey B, Le Nedelec M, Gray A, McNaughton N. Ketamine's dose-related effects on anxiety symptoms in patients with treatment refractory anxiety disorders. J Psychopharmacol. 2017 Oct;31(10):1302-1305. doi: 10.1177/0269881117705089. Epub 2017 Apr 26.

    PubMed 28441895
  • Taylor JH, Landeros-Weisenberger A, Coughlin C, Mulqueen J, Johnson JA, Gabriel D, Reed MO, Jakubovski E, Bloch MH. Ketamine for Social Anxiety Disorder: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018 Jan;43(2):325-333. doi: 10.1038/npp.2017.194. Epub 2017 Aug 29.

    PubMed 28849779

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Early Phase 1 study testing Ketamine and Saline in people with Social Anxiety Disorder, run by Yale University at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 Mar 2021. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Early Phase 1 (sometimes called Phase 0) studies give a very small amount of a treatment to a few people, mainly to see how the body handles it.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 18 Mar 2021). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety Symptoms (VAS-anxiety) (time frame: Day 1 (1+28)). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02083926, which also lists 6 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 Mar 2021.

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