ABSTRACT
Recent studies have demonstrated that ketamine , an N-methyl-D-aspartate ( NMDA ) receptor antagonist , can pro-duce rapid and effective antidepressant actions , especially for patients with treatment-resistant depression , bipolar disorder and suicide idea.However, the clinical application of ketamine is limited by its psychotomimetic adverse reactions and potential a-buse.Therefore, development of novel ketamine-like antidepres-sant agents with fewer side effects is actively investigated currently.The latest researches indicate that the metabolites of ket-amine, the S-ketamine/R-ketamine and the modulators of NM-DA receptor subunits can exert safe and effective antidepressant actions.In this article, the research advance in NMDA recep-tors-related antidepressants mentioned above will be reviewed .