Abstract
A growing body of evidence supports the idea that drugs targeting the glutamate system may represent a valuable therapeutic alternative in major depressive disorders (MDD). The rapid and prolonged mood elevating effect of the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) antagonist ketamine has been studied intensely. However, its clinical use is hampered by deleterious side-effects, such as psychosis. Therefore, a better understanding of the mechanisms of the psychotropic effects after NMDAR blockade is necessary to develop glutamatergic antidepressants with improved therapeutic profile. Here we review recent experimental data that addressed molecular/cellular determinants of the antidepressant effect mediated by inactivating NMDAR subtypes. We refer to results obtained both in pharmacological and genetic animal models, ranging from global to conditional NMDAR manipulation. Our main focus is on the contribution of different NMDAR subtypes to the psychoactive effects induced by NMDAR ablation/blockade. We review data analyzing the effect of NMDAR subtype deletions limited to specific neuronal populations/brain areas in the regulation of mood. Altogether, these studies suggest effective and putative specific NMDAR drug targets for MDD treatment.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews |
| Volume | 84 |
| Pages (from-to) | 352-358 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISSN | 0149-7634 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01.2018 |
Funding
This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DI427/11-1) to D.I. and P.G., the Ingeborg St?nder Foundation to D.I. and R.S. and the Research Fund of the UPK Basel to D.I. This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ( DI427/11-1 ) to D.I. and P.G., the Ingeborg Ständer Foundation to D.I. and R.S. and the Research Fund of the UPK Basel to D.I.
