Although the study is based on a sample, it is part of a push from scientists to come up with fast-acting drugs to treat mood disorders. Patients and doctors say that if often requires weeks or even months to get a handle on symptoms.
Among the unanswered questions that need to be looked into is whether the injection will be tolerated for long periods of time or whether it will continue to be effective. Researchers are hoping that the pharmaceutical companies will experiment with similar substances to come up with something large-scale.
Carlos Zarate Jr., chief of the mood disorders research unit at the National Institute of Mental Health told washingtonpost.com, "Psychiatrists have gotten used to the idea we have to wait weeks or months, but we can break the sound barrier and get an antidepressant effect within hours."
Zarate and his colleagues published their findings on August 7 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health told washingtonpost.com, "We can truly raise the bar on what we can expect of antidepressant treatments...A modest response after six weeks is what we used to define as success. What I love about this project is it redefines success not in terms of weeks, but in terms of hours."
Insel added, "This is not a subtle change. "It is almost like rebooting a computer. It is a chemical reboot, and the striking thing is the effect lasts for about a week."
