Ketamine Modulates Endogenous Opioid Peptide Signaling and Reduces Heroin-Seeking in Male Long-Evans Rats
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) September 6, 2026 Adam M Dawoud, Achla Gupta, Ivone Gomes et al. preprint
Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) continues to be a pressing public health crisis, marked by high relapse rates and limited treatment options. Ketamine, a non-competitive N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist, has emerged as a promising therapeutic for numerous psychiatric illnesses due to its robust antidepressant properties and glutamate-mediated synaptic plasticity. However, ketamine's...