Ketamine Administration Reverses Corticosterone-Induced Alterations in Excitatory and Inhibitory Transmission in the Rat Dorsal Raphe Nucleus

Ketamine, a N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, exerts rapid antidepressant effects in human patients and ameliorates depressive-like behavioral effects of chronic stress in animal models. Chronic stress and elevated corticosterone levels have been shown to modify serotonin (5-HT) neurotransmission, and ketamine's antidepressant-like activity involves a 5-HT-dependent mechanism. However, it is not known if and how ketamine affects the electrophysiological characteristics of neurons and synaptic transmission within the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), the main source of 5-HT forebrain projections. Our study was aimed at investigating the effects of a single ketamine administration on excitatory and inhibitory transmission in the DRN of rats which had previously been administered corticosterone twice daily for 7 days. Spontaneous excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs and sIPSCs) were then recorded from DRN projection cells in ex vivo slice preparations obtained 24 h after ketamine injection. Repeated corticosterone administration increased sEPSC frequency and decreased sIPSC frequency in DRN projection cells. There were no changes either in the amplitude of postsynaptic currents or in the excitability of these cells. In slices prepared from rats with ketamine administered after the end of corticosterone treatment, the frequencies of sEPSCs and sIPSCs were similar to those in control preparations. These data indicate that a single administration of ketamine reversed the effects of corticosterone on excitatory and inhibitory transmission in the DRN.