Esketamine, a spray for depression in bipolar disorder
The nasal spray Esketamine, already approved to treat resistant depressions, according to an Italian study, has also given excellent results to treat depressive symptoms in the context of bipolar disorder. All the details
What if depressive symptoms in the context of bipolar disorder could be treated with a nasal spray?
This is the idea behind an Italian study coordinated by the Chair of Psychiatry at the Gabriele d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, directed by Professor Giovanni Martinotti, and published in the journal Bipolar Disorders .
The clinical study also involved 20 other treatment centers nationwide.
WHAT IS BIPOLAR DEPRESSION
Bipolar depression, explains the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), is a phase of bipolar disorder characterized by the presence of deep and prolonged periods of depression alternating with periods of mania.
"Bipolar disorder – Martinotti explained – represents an extremely widespread condition, characterized by episodes of mood alteration, both in a depressive and expansive (excitation) sense, which causes suffering and difficulties in the lives of many people every day".
The depressive phases, in fact, tend to have a longer duration, while the manic phases can last from a week to about a month.
WHAT IT IS FOR
Esketamine Nasal Spray, this is the name of the drug produced by Janssen, is a spray with hallucinogenic-psychedelic properties. Already approved for the treatment of resistant depressions, i.e. in which there is no remission of depressive symptoms despite conventional treatments, it had not yet been studied in bipolar disorder.
Compared to previous antidepressant drugs and mood stabilizers, normally used in the clinical practice of bipolar disorder, Esketamine Nasal Spray acts with a rapid and innovative mechanism.
THE RESULTS
The clinical study, which investigated the efficacy and safety of the new drug in patients with bipolar disorder, showed a rapid and effective action in the treatment of both depressive andanxious symptoms, in the absence of health risks and of serious side effects.
“In the study conducted by our research group – Martinotti said -, Esketamine Nasal Spray, whose efficacy in resistant depression is already widely consolidated, has proven to be a valid therapeutic option also in the context of bipolar depression, with treatment response rates at 3 months of 68% and of remission from the depressive episode of 48.5%”.
"In addition – continued the professor -, the drug did not show significant risks in terms of potential side effects following administration, essentially showing itself to be well tolerated".
WHO CAN RECEIVE IT
The collaboration between the D'Annunzio University and the ASL 02 Lanciano Vasto Chieti has meant that Esketamine was implemented among the treatments available for depression.
“It is currently available in the territorial H range for hospital use and in our area it is provided under strict medical supervision at a specific outpatient service of the PO: “SS. Annunziata” in Chieti, the Resistant Depression clinic, born from the collaboration between the University and the ASL”, said Martinotti.
Class H drugs cannot be sold in pharmacies to the public, but are administered only in hospitals.
THE TREATMENTS AVAILABLE
As Martinotti stated, for depressive episodes, which characterize most of the phases of illness in bipolar disorder, "there are few approved treatments, often ineffective and in some cases poorly tolerated, as occurs, for example, with classic antidepressants, which increase the risk of inducing arousal phases.
However, these encouraging data, added the professor, "open the way to a new and powerful therapeutic aid for people suffering from bipolar depression and unresponsive to conventional treatments".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/esketamina-uno-spray-contro-la-depressione-nel-disturbo-bipolare/ on Wed, 01 Feb 2023 13:38:37 +0000.