Possible antidepressive effects of ketamine in lactating rats and implications on the prole

• Grant number: 18/02547-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Helenice de Souza Spinosa
• Grantee: Helenice de Souza Spinosa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Depression is one of the most common and mentally incapacitating diseases in the world. Postpartum depression is a subtype of depression that affects 1 in 7 women worldwide. It is often defined as an episode of major depressive disorder that occurs in the period after birth. The treatment for this type of depression is the combination of psychotherapies and pharmacological treatment. For pharmacological treatment it is necessary to consider the consequences that this treatment may have on the nursing mother and the progeny, since the mother-child bond is fundamental for the general development of the progeny and, therefore, changes in the maternal behavior can generate permanent disturbances in the child. Ketamine has been widely studied for the use as an antidepressant because of its mixed mechanism of action. Taking into account that there is a trend towards increased clinical use of ketamine and there is little information on the optimal dose and route of administration for its use as an antidepressant as well as the safety and efficacy of a treatment during the postnatal period, further studies on the use of this drug are necessary in order to contribute to its safer clinical use. Thus the objective of this project is to study the antidepressant effects of exposure of rats to ketamine in the lactation period, as well as the impact on cardiovascular, endocrine and central nervous systems and on the offspring. For this purpose, behavioral, neurochemical, density and RNA expression of receptors, pharmacokinetics, hormonal dosage, inflammatory profile, thyroid activity, as well as histological and immunohistochemical cardiac studies will be performed. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FUKUSHIMA, ANDRE RINALDI; NAVAS-SUAREZ, PEDRO ENRIQUE; PENA MUNOZ, JULIANA WECKX; RICCI, ESTHER LOPES; BAFFILE LEONI, LUIS ANTONIO; CAPERUTO, ERICO C.; YANASE, LEANDRO; SANTANA, JEFERSON; DE FRANCA, ELIAS; BERTASSONI DELORENZI, JAN CARLO MORAIS O.; et al. Post-Partum Depression Lactating Rat Model for Evaluating Ketamine's Safety as a Pharmacotherapeutic Treatment: Roles in Cardiac and Urinary Function. JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR DEVELOPMENT AND DISEASE, v. 9, n. 9, p. 17-pg., 2022-09-01. (18/02547-0)