Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is an indoleamine secreted by the pineal gland during the dark phase of the photoperiod. Its main function is the synchronization of different body rhythms with the dark-light cycle. Research on melatonin has significantly advanced since its discovery and we now know that it has considerable significance in various physiological processes, including...
Melatonin (MEL), an indolamine with diverse functions in the brain, has been shown to produce antidepressant-like effects, presumably through stimulating neurogenesis. We recently showed that the combination of MEL with ketamine (KET), an NMDA receptor antagonist, has robust antidepressant-like effects in mice, at doses that, by themselves, are non-effective and have no adverse effects. Here,...
Major depressive disorder is a disabling disease with the number of affected individuals increasing each year. Current antidepressant treatments take between three to six weeks to be effective with forty percent of patients being resistant to treatment, making it necessary to search for new antidepressant treatments. Ketamine, a phencyclidine hydrochloride derivative, given intravenously,...