Subanesthetic Ketamine Ameliorates Activity-Based Anorexia of Adult Mice.
Yiru Dong, Chiye Aoki
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Controlled experiment Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 41 |
| Population | Adult female mice |
| Intervention | Ketamine |
| Dose | 30 mg/kg, 3 doses |
| Duration | Three cycles of ABA (ABA1, ABA2, ABA3); ketamine given during ABA2; follow-up during ABA3 10-13 days later |
| Topics | Anxiety Ketamine Esketamine |
| Keywords | Activity‐based anorexia Anorexia nervosa Elevated plus maze Exploration Food‐anticipatory activity Mouse Voluntary food restriction Wheel running Ketamine therapy Eating disorders Exercise addiction Psychiatric research Animal studies |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | Ketamine reduced severe weight loss and sustained reductions in wheel running across ABA cycles in adult female mice, suggesting it may protect against AN relapse by reducing hyperactivity. |
Abstract
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder with the second highest mortality of all mental illnesses and high relapse rate, especially among adult females, yet with no accepted pharmacotherapy. A small number of studies have reported that adult females who struggled with severe and relapsing AN experienced sustained remission of the illness following ketamine infusions. Two other reports showed that 30 mg/kg IP ketamine can reduce vulnerability of adolescent mice to activity-based anorexia (ABA), an animal model of AN. However, no study has tested the efficacy of ketamine on adult ABA mice. This study aimed to fill this gap in knowledge. Forty-one female mice underwent three cycles of ABA (ABA1, ABA2, and ABA3) to assess relapse vulnerability in adulthood. Of them, 13 received ketamine injections (30 mg/kg, 3 doses) during ABA2 (KET) in adulthood to assess ketamine's acute effects during ABA2 and ketamine's potential for sustained efficacy during ABA3, 10-13 days later. The remaining 28 received vehicle or no injections during ABA2 (CON). Severe weight loss (>20% of baseline) during ABA3 was observed for 89% of CON but only 69% of KET. Overall wheel running per day was significantly less for KET than CON (p < 0.01) throughout ABA2, including hours of food availability, and these reductions were sustained through ABA3. Food consumption was not altered significantly by ketamine. These findings suggest that ketamine may reduce adult females' vulnerability to ABA and may protect women from AN relapse by reducing hyperactivity.
Comparable studies
Other preclinical and animal studies on ketamine for anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychedelics, but Not Ketamine, Produce Persistent Antidepressant-like Effects in a Rodent Experimental System for the Study of Depression Rats | 2020 | Preclinical study | |
| Psilocin and ketamine microdosing: effects of subchronic intermittent microdoses in the elevated plus-maze in male Wistar rats Wistar rats | 2018 | Experimental study | n = 40 |
| Repeated Dosing of Ketamine in the Forced Swim Test: Are Multiple Shots Better Than One? Rodents | 2021 | Review | |
| Psychedelics: A review of their effects on recalled aversive memories and fear/anxiety expression in rodents Rodents | 2024 | Review | |
| Sexually Dimorphic Behavioral Profile in a Transgenic Model Enabling Targeted Recombination in Active Neurons in Response to Ketamine and (2R,6R)-Hydroxynorketamine Administration Arc-CreERT2 × CAG-Sun1/sfGFP mice | 2020 | Experimental study |
Citations in the library
Cites 10
- Therapeutic Potentials of Ketamine and Esketamine in Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Substance Use Disorders (SUD) and Eating Disorders (ED): A Review of the Current Literature Brain Sciences June 27, 2021
- Treatment of compulsive behaviour in eating disorders with intermittent ketamine infusions The Quarterly journal of medicine July 1, 1998
- A longitudinal case series of IM ketamine for patients with severe and enduring eating disorders and comorbid treatment‐resistant depression Clinical Case Reports April 4, 2021
- Bridging rapid and sustained antidepressant effects of ketamine Trends in molecular medicine March 1, 2023
- Individual differences in the positive outcome from adolescent ketamine treatment in a female mouse model of anorexia nervosa involve drebrin A at excitatory synapses of the medial prefrontal cortex Synapse September 19, 2022
and 5 more in the library