Antidepressant effect of NMDA receptor and its sub-receptor antagonists in rats

Objective The ion receptor drugs relieve the symptons of depression,while the mechanism for this effect is unclear.The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the N-Methyl-D-aspartate(NMDA) receptor and its sub-receptor antagonists on the immobility time and expression of the hippocampual brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) in rats receiving the forced swimming test(FST).Methods Forty male Wistar rats were equally randomized to four groups.After insulted in FST for 15 min on the previous day,the rats were intraperitoneally injected with 1 ml of saline(the S group),5 mg/kg of NVP-AAM077(NR2B receptor antagonist)(the NVP group),5 mg/kg of ketamine(NMDA receptor antagonist)(the Ket group),and 10 mg/kg of Ro25-6981(NR2B receptor antagonist)(the Ro group),respectively.Thirty minutes later,the immobility time of the rats receiving FST was recorded,and the hippocampus tissue was harvested for detection of the level of BDNF.Results Compared with the rats in the S group,those in the NVP group exhibited no significant changes either in the immobility time nor in the expression of hippocampual BDNF(P0.05),whereas the Ket and Ro groups showed a remarkable decrease in the immobility time and an increase in the expression of hippocampual BDNF(P0.05).Conclusion Both Ketamine and Ro25-6981 have an antidepressant effect,which may be related to the upregulated expression of hippocampual BDNF.