Treatment of suicidal ideation or behavior using inhibitors of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors
AssigneeUniversity of South Florida
InventorsDavid Vincent Sheehan, Roland Douglas Shytle
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Abstract
The invention concerns methods of treating suicidal ideation or behavior in a subject in need thereof, comprising decreasing endogenous nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) activity in the subject; therapeutic packages for treating suicidal ideation or behavior; and methods for determining the efficacy of a treatment for suicidal ideation or behavior. In some embodiments, the treatment methods comprise administering to the subject an effective amount of an inhibitor of a nAChR, such as a lithium compound, mecamylamine, clozapine, or asenapine.
Claims44
A method of treating suicidal ideation or behavior in a subject in need thereof, comprising decreasing endogenous nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) activity in the subject, wherein the subject is not suffering from major depressive disorder.
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A therapeutic package comprising (a) a container, (b) a dosage form of an inhibitor of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) activity, and (c) written matter associated with the therapeutic package stating that the dosage form can be administered to treat suicidal ideation or behavior in a subject.
A therapeutic package for dispensing an inhibitor of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) activity to a subject being treated for suicidal thoughts or ideation, comprising:
- (a) one or more unit doses, each unit dose comprising an effective amount of the inhibitor to treat suicidal ideation or behavior in a subject;
- and (b) a container containing (i) the unit dose or unit doses and (ii) labeling directing the use of the package, unit dose, or unit doses in the treatment of suicidal ideation or behavior in a subject.
A method of treating a subject suffering from suicidal ideation or behavior, comprising the steps of:
- (a) marketing to a physician a pharmaceutical or biological product containing an inhibitor of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) activity as being effective for the treatment of a subject suffering from suicidal ideation or behavior;
- (b) assessing a subject as suffering from suicidal thoughts or ideation;
- (c) prescribing the pharmaceutical or biological product to the subject by the physician in response to the marketing of the pharmaceutical or biological product and the assessment of the subject;
- and (d) administering the prescribed pharmaceutical or biological product to the subject.
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A method for marketing an inhibitor of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) activity, comprising marketing the inhibitor as being effective for the treatment of suicidal ideation or behavior in a subject.
A method for determining the efficacy of a treatment for suicidal ideation or behavior, comprising identifying a subject as having suicidality symptoms using a suicidality tracking scale capable of direct mapping to the Columbia Classification Algorithm for Suicide Assessment (C-CASA);
- administering a candidate treatment to the identified subject;
- and determining whether the candidate treatment is effective in preventing, reducing, or eliminating suicidal ideation or behavior in the identified subject, wherein the candidate treatment comprises inhibition of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) activity in the subject.
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A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for performing a method for determining the efficacy of a treatment for suicidal ideation or behavior, wherein said method comprises identifying a subject as having suicidality symptoms using a suicidality tracking scale capable of direct mapping to the Columbia Classification Algorithm for Suicide Assessment (C-CASA);
- administering a candidate treatment to the identified subject;
- and determining whether the candidate treatment is effective in preventing, reducing, or eliminating suicidal ideation or behavior in the identified subject, wherein the candidate treatment comprises inhibition of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) activity in the subject.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.