A randomized, double-blind, clinical pilot trial of adjunct ketone supplement compared to placebo for treating posttraumatic stress disorder

BACKGROUND

Despite some evidence of the helpful role of ketones in some neuropsychiatric disorders, there are no clinical trials that examine these agents for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Our aim was to investigate whether ketone salt supplementation can improve PTSD symptoms in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

METHODS

A total of 21 participants were recruited and randomized to placebo or ketone supplement. Each dose of ketone supplement included 7 g of ketones in the form of beta-hydroxybutyrate for a total of 14 g/d. Data were collected through questionnaires to assess PTSD symptoms. We used Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables and 2-sample t tests for continuous variables to examine differences in baseline values between treatment groups. Mixed models were employed to examine changes over time between groups on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).

RESULTS

There were no statistically significant differences in PCL-5 medians between the ketone and control groups at pretest (P = 1.0000) or post-test (P = .6020). The ketone group had a statistically significant decrease in median PCL-5 scores from 58.5 (pretest) to 54.0 (posttest; P = .0003) but the control group did not change (34 at pretest and at posttest; P = .4418).

CONCLUSIONS

The ketone group showed a significant decrease in PCL-5 score at posttest compared with pretest that was not seen in the control group, although these changes were not statistically significant between groups. The small sample size limited the study and likely contributed to the lack of significance. Larger trials are needed to more definitively examine these findings.

Characteristics of patients who received deep brain stimulation in obsessive-compulsive disorder versus major depressive disorder

OBJECTIVE

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is cleared for treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) but is an investigational treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). The aim of this study is to compare the characteristics of patients who received DBS as part of standard care for OCD versus those who received it a part of a research protocol for MDD.

METHODS

The inpatient sample (N = 110) was drawn from the 2012-2014 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), and included adults with a primary discharge diagnosis of MDD (N = 50) or OCD (N = 60) and primary procedure of DBS. The study compared various patient demographics, clinical, hospital and insurance variables between the 2 groups.

RESULTS

DBS recipients with OCD were younger compared to those with MDD. DBS recipients with MDD tended to be from high-income families compared to those with OCD. DBS patients with MDD were in the South region, while DBS patients with OCD were in the Midwest and South regions of the United States (US). The study did not detect a significant difference in the length of stay and total charges among DBS recipients with OCD versus MDD.

CONCLUSIONS

DBS patients with MDD are typically older with more financial resources compared to those with OCD. DBS is federally cleared for OCD, but not for MDD, demonstrating the need for further investigation to establish DBS as a federally cleared treatment for difficult to treat MDD if well-powered randomized trials further support its use.