Esketamine-mediated alleviation of electroconvulsive shock-induced memory impairment is associated with the regulation of mGluR5 in depressive-like rats.
Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior March 1, 2025 Yiwei Shen, Wei Ran, Dawei Liu et al. 2 citations
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) effectively treats depression but impairs learning and memory. Ketamine may reduce these cognitive side effects. Using a rat model of depression, researchers tested whether esketamine (a ketamine derivative) protects memory after electroconvulsive shock (ECS), the animal analogue of ECT. A low dose of esketamine increased the expression of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) and NMDA receptor 1 in the hippocampus, reduced ECS-induced memory impairment, and improved depressive-like behavior. Blocking mGluR5 with the antagonist MTEP reversed these effects. The findings suggest esketamine protects spatial learning and memory after ECS by upregulating mGluR5 and enhancing NMDA receptor activation.