Association between S-ketamine induced changes in glutamate levels in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex and plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor in healthy subjects.
Frontiers in psychiatry January 1, 2025 Leonard Marx, Zümrüt Duygu Sen, Lena Vera Danyeli et al.
Ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects are thought to involve glutamate signaling and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), but how these two factors interact is unclear. In a randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study with 35 healthy men, researchers measured glutamate levels in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex using 7 Tesla magnetic resonance spectroscopy and plasma BDNF levels before and after infusions of S-ketamine or placebo. A significant interaction emerged between treatment condition and changes in glutamate on BDNF level changes, with a trend-level positive correlation between glutamate and BDNF changes only in the ketamine group. These findings offer initial in vivo evidence that ketamine's influence on BDNF is tied to its glutamatergic action.