Ketamine attenuates the PTSD-like effect via regulation of glutamatergic signaling in the nucleus accumbens of mice.
Molecular and cellular neurosciences March 1, 2022 Muhammad Asim, B. Hao, Abdul Waris et al.
Ketamine infused into the nucleus accumbens (NAc) reduces fear generalization in mice, a core symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder. Foot shock strength-dependently induced fear generalization, increasing c-fos activity, lowering GluR1(S845) and GluR1(S831) protein levels, and raising P-GluN2B protein in the NAc. Local ketamine infusion decreased fear generalization while increasing GluR1(S845) and GluR1(S831) and decreasing P-GluN2B. The findings suggest ketamine may attenuate fear generalization by affecting glutamatergic signaling in the NAc.