title: Antidepressant Effects of Ketamine on Depression-like Behavior in Juvenile Mice after Neonatal Dexamethasone Exposure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pediatric depression is associated with significant functional impairment at school and at work. Recently, we reported on depression-like behavior in juvenile mice neonatally exposed to dexamethasone (DEX) as a potential animal model for pediatric depression. The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine has promoted rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant major depression. This study was conducted to examine whether ketamine had antidepressant effects in juvenile mice after neonatal DEX exposure.
  
  
  METHODS
  A single dose (10 mg/kg) of ketamine or vehicle was injected into juvenile mice at days 29-32 after neonatal DEX (or saline) exposure (days 1-3). The sucrose preference test, tail suspension test, and forced swimming test were performed 24, 40, and 46 hours, respectively, after injection of ketamine.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ketamine (10 mg/kg) significantly improved depression-like behavior in DEX-treated juvenile mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This finding suggests that ketamine confers antidepressant effects in an animal model of pediatric depression.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Chiba, Japan. ; National Institute on Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Su-Xia
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Ji-Chun
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
keywords: Antidepressants; Depression; Dexamethasone; Ketamine; NMDA receptors