Glutamatergic receptor and neuroplasticity in depression: Implications for ketamine and rapastinel as the rapid-acting antidepressants.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications - BBRC January 1, 2022 Ya-Ting Wang, Ning-Ning Zhang, Ling Liu et al. 47 citations
Ketamine, an NMDAR antagonist, and rapastinel, an NMDAR positive allosteric modulator, both produce rapid and sustained antidepressant effects, but rapastinel lacks ketamine's severe side effects. Their shared antidepressant action converges on the BDNF and mTORC1 signaling pathways, which promote synaptic plasticity. This suggests that targeting downstream synaptic processes could guide the development of next-generation rapid-acting antidepressants.