Esketamine attenuates post-traumatic stress disorder via suppressing neuroinflammation and abnormal myelination.
Neurochemistry international November 19, 2025 Zhaoliang Gu, Ruixue Song, Guoqiang Liu et al. 3 citations
A single subanesthetic dose of esketamine (30 mg/kg) alleviated PTSD-like symptoms in mice exposed to electric foot shocks. The medial prefrontal cortex showed increased numbers of Iba1-positive microglial cells and elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α), indicating neuroinflammation, along with increased expression of myelin-related proteins (MBP, MAG, Olig2, PDGFRα), suggesting abnormal myelination. Esketamine treatment suppressed both the neuroinflammatory response and the aberrant myelination. The findings suggest that neuroinflammation and abnormal myelination contribute to PTSD development and highlight esketamine's therapeutic potential.