Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
October 9, 2018
Yu Yang, Weina Ju, Haining Zhang et al.
80 citations
Mice exposed to chronic social defeat stress showed reduced spatial working memory and contextual fear memory, along with decreased levels of the NMDA receptor subunit NR2B, reduced long-term potentiation, and smaller NMDA receptor-mediated currents in the hippocampus. Ketamine treatment reversed these memory deficits and increased NR2B expression, LTP, and NMDA receptor-mediated currents. The findings suggest that depression-related memory dysfunction involves downregulation of hippocampal NR2B and synaptic plasticity, and that ketamine's antidepressant effects include restoring these measures.
BMC anesthesiology
July 1, 2025
Yanan Wu, Yaning Yang, Xiaomei Wang et al.
9 citations
Intraoperative infusion of low-dose esketamine (0.5 mg/kg/h) significantly reduced postoperative sleep disturbance (PSD) after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In a randomized trial, PSD incidence was lower in the esketamine group than the placebo group on postoperative day 1 (58.1% vs. 81.4%), day 2 (11.6% vs. 44.2%), and day 3 (2.3% vs. 18.6%). The esketamine group also had lower postoperative pain scores and less intraoperative remifentanil use, with no difference in adverse reactions. Longer operation duration, higher ASA grade, and drain insertion were independent risk factors for PSD.
Pharmacological research
November 22, 2025
Zhuo-Ning Zhang, Xin-Yu Hao, Chen Cai et al.
5 citations
A single low dose of esketamine given at the start of cardiac valve surgery reduced rates of depression and anxiety one week after surgery. Among 142 patients, those receiving esketamine had a depression rate of 7.0% compared to 31.0% in the placebo group, and an anxiety rate of 11.3% versus 35.2%. Esketamine also lowered delirium incidence, improved pain, sleep, and recovery quality, and reduced inflammatory markers (IL-6, CRP) and a neuronal injury marker (S100β) while increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Side effects did not differ between groups.