Nitrous Oxide for Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: A Proof-of-Concept Trial.
Biological psychiatry July 1, 2015 Peter Nagele, Andreas Duma, Michael Kopec et al.
In a small blinded, placebo-controlled crossover trial, 20 patients with treatment-resistant depression inhaled either 50% nitrous oxide or a placebo gas for about one hour. Depressive symptoms improved significantly more after nitrous oxide than after placebo, both at 2 hours and at 24 hours after treatment. Four patients (20%) showed a treatment response and three (15%) achieved full remission after nitrous oxide, compared with one response and no remission after placebo. All side effects were brief and mild to moderate; no serious adverse events occurred. The results suggest that nitrous oxide can produce rapid antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression.