Ketamine Alleviates Postoperative Depression-Like Symptoms in Susceptible Mice: The Role of BDNF-TrkB Signaling
Frontiers in Pharmacology February 6, 2020 Shan Li, Xiaoxiao Luo, Dongyu Hua et al.
Postoperative depression (POD) is a poorly understood complication of anesthesia and surgery. This study investigated the role of BDNF-TrkB signaling in a POD model. The authors report that BDNF-TrkB signaling was altered in brain regions (medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus) and peripheral tissues (liver, muscle) across control, POD-susceptible, and resilient groups. The TrkB agonist 7,8-dihydroxyflavone alleviated POD-like symptoms, and ketamine also showed antidepressant effects while improving BDNF-TrkB signaling. A TrkB antagonist fully blocked ketamine's benefits. The findings suggest that abnormal BDNF-TrkB signaling contributes to POD and that targeting this pathway, particularly with ketamine, may be therapeutic.