A new way of treating depression?

Title of project: Effects of AZD6765 and ketamine on brain responses      
Study Number: D2285C00001

The research:

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY?

Antidepressant drugs help people with depression but often incompletely and with side effects. Most common antidepressants work in a similar way on a chemical in the brain called serotonin. Some people are not helped at all. Therefore, more effective antidepressant drugs with new ways of working are needed. Brain scanning studies suggest that some parts of the brain in depressed people are overactive and that the brain is especially sensitive to mildly emotional images such as faces showing sadness or fear. Antidepressant drugs calm overactive parts of the brain in depression even before depression recovers. A new approach, working on a chemical in the brain called glutamate, shows promise in rapidly reducing symptoms of depression. This study aims to understand whether the new approach also calms brain regions that are overactive in depression and lessens the brain’s response to emotion, perhaps in a different way from existing serotonin drugs.

The study will compare the effect of two glutamate drugs; a well known one called ketamine, and a newer one called AZD6765, using brain scans and computer tests. Ketamine is a commonly used anaesthetic but given here in much lower doses so you stay awake to view images and words. It causes a mild spaced-out feeling at low doses. The new drug also works on the glutamate system but in a different way that so far appears not to cause obvious feelings. Brain scanning involves lying in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner for about an hour - while receiving the drug on the first day, and on the second while viewing images and words. MRI is a completely routine medical investigation which does not involve any injections or radioactivity. We will use questionnaires and interviews to see how you are feeling. The study has been organised and devised by researchers at the Universities of Manchester and Oxford and people will participate in both centres. The research has been approved by Capenhurst Independent Ethics Committee, Ref. 1029.

If you are interested in helping us with this study and if you are aged between 18-45 (inclusive) and right-handed, we would like to invite you to complete a short questionnaire. This questionnaire will help us decide if you are eligible to participate in the study

WHAT WILL I BE ASKED TO DO?
  1. You will be asked to complete the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), a questionnaire where you read 21 groups of statements and pick the statements from each group which best describes the way you have been feeling.
  2. If you would like to know about the next phase of our research (for which you will be reimbursed), please leave your email address and telephone number and we will send details to you. You can also telephone the research centres on 01865 522515 (Oxford) or 0161 408 0308 (Manchester) and speak to one of our researchers
  3. We are legally required to keep our answers confidential. If you leave your email address we keep it separate from your questionnaire answers. Your answers will be coded and stored on computers identified only by a code number. Only the research team will have access to your data.

Before you complete the questionnaire, we need to be sure that you have given informed consent. If you agree with the following statements, please click on the link below that will take you to the questionnaire.

Please note that clicking on this link will open a new window in your browser. Once you have submitted your answers, close this window to return to original window after making a note of our contact details.