Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology
May 31, 2026
Yong Yue, Yi Cai, Rumi Murayama et al.
To determine whether antibiotic-induced microbiome depletion influences baseline or 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-induced oxytocin signaling in rats. Male Wistar rats received broad-spectrum antibiotics (ABX) or water for 7 days, followed by a single oral administration of MDMA (30 mg/kg). Plasma oxytocin levels were measured by ELISA, and oxytocin-immunoreactivity in the...
Translational Psychiatry
May 20, 2026
Xin Ding, Rumi Murayama, Yi Cai et al.
1 citation
), a combination of the muscarinic M1/M4 receptor agonist xanomeline and the peripherally restricted antagonist trospium, effectively reduces psychosis but is associated with gastrointestinal adverse effects. Here, we tested whether KarXT reverses phencyclidine (PCP)-induced cognitive deficits through microbiota-associated mechanisms in adult male mice. Mice received saline or PCP (10...
Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology
November 30, 2025
Xiayun Wan, Akifumi Eguchi, Rumi Murayama et al.
5 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is widely used recreationally but also modulates serotonergic signaling in the gut, potentially influencing the microbiota. Because low bone mineral density (BMD) is common in depression and other psychiatric disorders, we tested whether repeated, intermittent MDMA attenuates BMD loss in ovariectomized (OVX) mice. OVX mice received MDMA (10 mg/kg) three...
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
July 1, 2025
Rumi Murayama, Yi Cai, Hiroyuki Nakamura et al.
Demyelination, defined as the loss of myelin sheaths around neuronal axons, is increasingly recognized as a key factor in a broad range of psychiatric and neurological disorders, including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, autism spectrum disorder, substance use disorders, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis....
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
March 20, 2025
Yong Yue, Xiayun Wan, Guilin Liu et al.
4 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a widely recognized entactogen frequently used recreationally. It is known for its interaction with the serotonin and oxytocin systems, which underlie its entactogenic effects in humans. Recently, we demonstrated that the gut-brain axis, mediated by the subdiaphragmatic vagus nerve, contributes to MDMA-induced resilience enhancement in rodents. This...
European Journal of Pharmacology
March 15, 2025
Mingming Zhao, Akifumi Eguchi, Rumi Murayama et al.
6 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as a recreational drug, may also offer therapeutic benefits for mental health. Population-based studies suggest that MDMA users have a lower risk of demyelinating diseases, such as depression. Given the role of the gut microbiota in mediating MDMA's effects, we hypothesized that MDMA might confer mental health benefits via the gut-brain...
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
January 10, 2025
Ting-Ting Zhu, Ming-Ming Zhao, Dan Xu et al.
5 citations
Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is characterized by a decline in cognitive functions, including memory, attention, and executive abilities, following surgery, with no effective therapeutic drugs currently available. Arketamine, the (R)-enantiomer of ketamine, has shown promise in mitigating cognitive deficits in animal models. In this study, we investigated whether arketamine could...
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
January 10, 2025
Dan Xu, Akifumi Eguchi, Rumi Murayama et al.
4 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; Ecstasy) is a widely abused recreational drug that has also gained interest for potential clinical applications in mental health. With the growing recognition of gut microbiota's role in mental health, this study examined whether repeated oral MDMA administration could affect gut microbiota in the small intestine, cecum, and colon of male rats. Repeated...
Journal of Affective Disorders
December 15, 2024
Dan Xu, Guilin Liu, Mingming Zhao et al.
21 citations
Chronic restrain stress (CRS) induces depression-like behaviors and demyelination in the brain; however, the relationship between these depression-like behaviors and demyelination remains unclear. Arketamine, the (R)-enantiomer of ketamine, has shown rapid antidepressant-like effects in CRS-exposed mice. We examined whether arketamine can improve both depression-like behaviors and demyelination...
European Journal of Pharmacology
December 15, 2024
Ming-Ming Zhao, Ting-Ting Zhu, Dan Xu et al.
14 citations
The novel antidepressant arketamine, the (R)-enantiomer of ketamine, has been shown to ameliorate demyelination and facilitate remyelination in the brains of cuprizone (CPZ)-treated mice. However, the mechanisms behind its effects remain unclear. Given the role of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) in arketamine's antidepressant-like effects, we examined whether TGF-β1 also plays a role in...
Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior
December 1, 2024
Guilin Liu, Li Ma, Akemi Sakamoto et al.
4 citations
Arketamine, the (R)-enantiomer of ketamine, exhibits both therapeutic and sustained prophylactic effects in an inflammation-driven model of depression, although the precise mechanisms remain elusive. Given the involvement of γδ T cells in inflammatory processes, this study explored their role in the effects of arketamine. To assess therapeutic outcomes, mice received lipopolysaccharide (LPS:1.0...
Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior
May 1, 2024
Li Ma, Akifumi Eguchi, Guilin Liu et al.
11 citations
The gut-brain axis, which includes gut microbiota and microbiome-derived metabolites, might be implicated in depression. We reported the sustained prophylactic effects of a new antidepressant arketamine in chronic restrain stress (CRS) model of depression. In this study, we investigated the role of gut-brain axis on the prophylactic effects of arketamine in the CRS (7 days) model. Pretreatment...
Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior
December 1, 2023
Guilin Liu, Li Ma, Youge Qu et al.
16 citations
Anesthetic ketamine and classical psychedelics that act as 5-hydroxytryptamine-2A receptor (5-HT2AR) agonists demonstrated rapid and sustained antidepressant actions in patients with treatment-resistant depression. The new antidepressant arketamine is reported to cause long-lasting prophylactic effects in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mice and mice exposed to chronic restrain stress (CRS)....