GABA interneurons are the cellular trigger for ketamine's rapid antidepressant actions.
Journal of Clinical Investigation November 19, 2019 Danielle M. Gerhard, Santosh Pothula, Rong-Jian Liu et al. 345 citations
A single low dose of ketamine produces rapid and lasting antidepressant effects by blocking NMDA receptors containing the GluN2B subunit on specific GABA-releasing interneurons in the medial prefrontal cortex. Removing GluN2B from somatostatin-expressing interneurons prevented or masked ketamine's antidepressant actions and revealed sex-specific differences in excitatory signals onto principal neurons. The findings indicate that GluN2B-NMDA receptors on GABA interneurons are the initial cellular trigger for ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects.