Low-dose buprenorphine significantly enhanced the antisuicidal effects of a single infusion of ketamine in patients with suicidal ideation and major depressive disorder (MDD), a randomized trial showed.
Among 45 patients who received ketamine, Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI) total scores significantly decreased from days 1 to 31 for those who received buprenorphine and those who received placebo, with a larger reduction observed in the buprenorphine group (mean change -11.6 vs -6.3; Glass delta 0.76, 95% CI 0.11-1.39), reported Jason M. Tucciarone, MD, PhD, and Alan F. Schatzberg, MD, of Stanford University School of Medicine in California, at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.
Mixed-effects modeling showed a significant time-by-treatment interaction (P<0.001), the researchers noted in their study, which was also published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
"These findings offer a potentially scalable and safe therapeutic option for a population at risk of suicide," they concluded.
There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for reducing suicidal ideation in patients with MDD, and roughly 50,000 people die in the U.S. each year by suicide, noted Schatzberg during their presentation.
