European Psychiatry
February 5, 2025
Shokouh Arjmand, Mats B Lindström, Carl M Sellgren et al.
1 citation
The dissociative effects of ketamine and psychedelics might be associated with their rapid antidepressant properties, raising questions about whether these effects are necessary for their therapeutic action. Additionally, the distinct dissociative experiences often reported by patients in clinical trials may reveal whether they receive an active treatment or a placebo, potentially introducing...
Pharmacological Research
2025
Nicole R Silva, Shokouh Arjmand, Luana B Domingos et al.
6 citations
Ketamine (KET) is recognized as rapid-acting antidepressant, but its mechanisms of action remain elusive. Considering the role of endocannabinoids (eCB) in stress and depression, we investigated if S-KET antidepressant effects involve the regulation of the eCB system using an established rat model of depression based on selective breeding: the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) and their controls,...
Synapse
July 1, 2024
Simone Larsen Bærentzen, Jakob Borup Thomsen, Majken Borup Thomsen et al.
1 citation
Major depressive disorder is one of the most prevalent mental health disorders, posing a global socioeconomic burden. Conventional antidepressant treatments have a slow onset of action, and 30% of patients show no clinically significant treatment response. The recently approved fast-acting antidepressant S-ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, provides a new approach for...
Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
October 1, 2023
Pedro Henrique Gobira, Jacob LaMar, Jade Marques et al.
Introduction: The antidepressant properties of ketamine have been extensively demonstrated in experimental and clinical settings. However, the psychotomimetic side effects still limit its wider use as an antidepressant. It was recently observed that endocannabinoids are inolved in ketamine induced reward properties. As an increase in endocannabinoid signaling induces antidepressant effects,...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
April 17, 2023
Shokouh Arjmand, Marie Vadstrup Pedersen, N. Silva et al.
Abstract Background Recent preclinical and clinical studies have shed light on the possible impact of sex and estrous/menstrual cycle on ketamine’s antidepressant action but with incongruous results. The preclinical studies that have shown the effects of ovarian sex hormones have not done so in animal models of depression. Thus, the aim of the present study is to scrutinize the acute behavioral...
European Neuropsychopharmacology
November 11, 2022
Betina Elfving, Nico Liebenberg, Kristian Du Jardin et al.
There is a pressing need to identify biological indicators of major depression to help guide proper diagnosis and optimize treatment. Animal models mimicking aspects of depression constitute essential tools for early-stage exploration of relevant pathways. In this study, we used the Flinders Sensitive and Resistant Line (FSL/FRL) to explore central and peripheral transcriptional changes in...
Neuropharmacology
June 19, 2021
Ariandra Sartim, Jade Marques, Kennia Silveira et al.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Although useful as a rapid-acting antidepressant drug, ketamine is known to induce psychotomimetic effects, which may interfere with its therapeutic use. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychostimulant compound from Cannabis sativa, which has shown promising antidepressant effects without inducing hyperlocomotion. AMPA receptor activation is involved in the antidepressant...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
November 4, 2020
Oskar Hougaard Jefsen, Betina Elfving, Gregers Wegener et al.
123 citations
Background: Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic found in “magic mushrooms” with a putative therapeutic potential for treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction. In rodents, psilocybin acutely induces plasticity-related immediate early genes in cortical tissue; however, studies into the effects on subcortical regions, of different doses, and the...
Neuropharmacology
October 1, 2019
Samuel Kohtala, Wiebke Theilmann, Marko Rosenholm et al.
Subanesthetic rather than anesthetic doses are thought to bring the rapid antidepressant effects of the NMDAR (N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor) antagonist ketamine. Among molecular mechanisms, activation of BDNF receptor TrkB along with the inhibition of GSK3β (glycogen synthase kinase 3β) are considered as critical molecular level determinants for ketamine's antidepressant effects....
Acta Neuropsychiatrica
May 20, 2019
Oskar Hougaard Jefsen, Kristoffer Højgaard, Sofie Laage Christiansen et al.
66 citations
Abstract Objective: Psilocybin is a serotonin receptor agonist with a therapeutic potential for treatment-resistant depression and other psychiatric illnesses. We investigated whether the administration of psilocybin had an antidepressant-like effect in a rat model of depression. Methods: Using the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rat model of depression, we assessed the antidepressant-like effect...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
January 15, 2018
Kristian Du Jardin, Nico Liebenberg, M. Cajina et al.
Rationale: The mechanisms responsible for the unique antidepressant properties of ketamine have only been partly resolved. Recent preclinical reports implicate the neurotransmitter serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] in the antidepressant-like response of ketamine, and modulation of 5-HT1B receptors has been hypothesized to attain an important role. Objectives: To evaluate the role of...
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
November 3, 2016
Kristian Gaarn Du Jardin, Heidi Kaastrup Müller, Betina Elfving et al.
A single i.v. infusion of ketamine, classified as an N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, may alleviate depressive symptoms within hours of administration in treatment resistant depressed patients, and the antidepressant effect may last for several weeks. These unique therapeutic properties have prompted researchers to explore the mechanisms mediating the antidepressant effects of...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
November 2, 2016
Maryam Ardalan, Gregers Wegener, Ali H. Rafati et al.
38 citations
Background: The neurovascular plasticity of hippocampus is an important theory underlying major depression. Ketamine as a novel glutamatergic antidepressant drug can induce a rapid antidepressant effect within hours. In a mechanistic proof of this concept, we examined whether ketamine leads to an increase in synaptogenesis and vascularization within 24 hours after a single injection in a...
Hippocampus
November 2016
Maryam Ardalan, Gregers Wegener, Benedetta Polsinelli et al.
Glutamatergic system and the structural plasticity hypothesis are principal components for rapid and sustained antidepressant effects of novel antidepressant therapeutics. This study represents the first investigation of the structural plasticity of the hippocampus as one of the main contributed mechanisms to the sustained anti-depressive effect of ketamine. Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) and...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
May 27, 2016
G. Treccani, Liebenberg N. Nico, S. Tillmann et al.
Specific objective of the study: This study is aimed to investigate desipramine, venlafaxine and bupropion on depression and anxiety in mice. Methods used: We used a classic tricyclic antidepressant, desipramine; a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitör, venlafaxine; a second-generation antidepressant agent that blocks centrally the reuptake of noradrenaline and dopamine, bupropion in...
Acta Neuropsychiatrica
April 1, 2015
Nico Liebenberg, Sâmia R L Joca, Gregers Wegener
ObjectiveWe investigated whether the nitric oxide (NO) precursor,l-arginine, can prevent the antidepressant-like action of the fast-acting antidepressant, ketamine, in a genetic rat model of depression, and/or induce changes in the glutamate (Glu)/N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)/NO/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) signalling pathway. Hereby it was evaluated whether the NO signalling...