Citation

Adu-Nti F, Ghartey-Kwansah G, Aboagye B (2019) Sex Differences in the Antidepressant Effects of Ketamine in Animal Models of Depression. Int J Depress Anxiety 2:013. doi.org/10.23937/2643-4059/1710013

Copyright

© 2019 Adu-Nti F, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Review Article | OPEN ACCESS DOI: 10.23937/2643-4059/1710013

Sex Differences in the Antidepressant Effects of Ketamine in Animal Models of Depression

Frank Adu-Nti1*, George Ghartey-Kwansah2 and Benjamin Aboagye3

1College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, PR China

2Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Ghana

3Department of Forensic Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common psychiatric disease and it affects millions of people across the world. Patients suffering from MDD consistently complain about cognitive disturbances, significantly worsening the burden of this illness. The second most frequent mental illness in Europe is mood disorders and they are dominated by MDD, affecting 7% of the population. The recent discovery that the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist; ketamine; a revolutionary novel antidepressant, rapidly relieves depressive symptoms and suicidal imaginations, particularly amongst those with treatment-resistant depression have generated a new wave of excitement. This article discusses the sex differences that exist in depressive patients, summarizes the antidepressant activity of ketamine and reviews the mechanisms underlying the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine. It further discusses the sexual differences in the antidepressant activity of ketamine in preclinical studies.