New use of old drug:introductiono f the antidepressant effects of ketamine and the underlying mechanisms / 医学研究生学报

ABSTRACT

Ketamine, a nons-elective N -methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA ) receptor antagonist , is widely used as a general anesthetic in clinical practice. Recent studies have shown that ketamine can produce rapid , effective, and long-lasting antidepressant effects , and the strength of synaptic plasticity induced by inhibitory interneurons , excitatory transmitters , AMPA receptors , and postsynaptic signal pathways may be involved in this procedure .The antidepressant effects of ketamine and the underlying mechanisms are concisely intro -duced in this paper .