Ketamine's rapid and sustained antidepressant effects are driven by distinct mechanisms.

Ketamine's rapid and sustained antidepressant effects rely on separate biological mechanisms. A single dose rapidly improves mood by increasing activity of immature neurons in the hippocampal dentate gyrus without generating new neurons. Six doses over two weeks doubled the duration of behavioral improvement, which correlated with increased numbers of immature neurons (neurogenesis) and reduced bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, a known inhibitor of neurogenesis. Experimentally maintaining BMP signaling with a lentivirus blocked the sustained but not the rapid effects, showing that decreased BMP signaling and increased neurogenesis are necessary for ketamine's long-lasting benefits. Understanding these dual mechanisms may aid development of safer, sustained antidepressant therapies.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Administration of multiple subanesthetic doses of ketamine increases the duration of antidepressant effects relative to a single ketamine dose, but the mechanisms mediating this sustained effect are unclear. Here, we demonstrate that ketamine's rapid and sustained effects on affective behavior are mediated by separate and temporally distinct mechanisms. The rapid effects of a single dose of ketamine result from increased activity of immature neurons in the hippocampal dentate gyrus without an increase in neurogenesis. Treatment with six doses of ketamine over two weeks doubled the duration of behavioral effects after the final ketamine injection. However, unlike ketamine's rapid effects, this more sustained behavioral effect did not correlate with increased immature neuron activity but instead correlated with increased numbers of calretinin-positive and doublecortin-positive immature neurons. This increase in neurogenesis was associated with a decrease in bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, a known inhibitor of neurogenesis. Injection of a BMP4-expressing lentivirus into the dentate gyrus maintained BMP signaling in the niche and blocked the sustained - but not the rapid - behavioral effects of ketamine, indicating that decreased BMP signaling is necessary for ketamine's sustained effects. Thus, although the rapid effects of ketamine result from increased activity of immature neurons in the dentate gyrus without requiring an increase in neurogenesis, ketamine's sustained effects require a decrease in BMP signaling and increased neurogenesis along with increased neuron activity. Understanding ketamine's dual mechanisms of action should help with the development of new rapid-acting therapies that also have safe, reliable, and sustained effects.