S-ketamine alleviates depression-like behavior and hippocampal neuroplasticity in the offspring of mice that experience prenatal stress.
Scientific reports November 6, 2024 Yan Zhang, Chu-Ke Wei, Ping Wang et al. 12 citations
Prenatal stress from unpredictable mild stress during pregnancy leads to depressive-like behaviors and impaired hippocampal neuroplasticity in male offspring. A single dose of S-ketamine (10 mg/kg) given to these offspring on postnatal day 42 counteracted depression-like behaviors. At the cellular level, S-ketamine alleviated reductions in neuronal complexity and dendritic spine density in the CA1 hippocampus and reversed synaptic morphology alterations. At the molecular level, it upregulated BDNF and PSD95 expression and activated AKT and mTOR in the hippocampus. S-ketamine appears to produce antidepressant effects by enhancing hippocampal neuroplasticity via the BDNF/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.