By using an anesthetic drug that also has antidepressant properties, and a drug that increases levels of a mood-enhancing chemicals in the brain, the researchers found that they could alleviate depressive-like symptoms in a mouse model of alcoholism.
Depression is highly associated with alcohol abuse disorders. The Vanderbilt researchers validated a previously established mouse model in which the animals exhibit depression-like behavior following withdrawal of alcohol.
They then tested ketamine, an anesthetic drug that blocks the NMDA receptor in the brain and which has been shown to have rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects in humans. When the mice were given ketamine, the depressive symptoms were reversed.
However, before these findings could be applicable to human beings, further extensive research has to be done.
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Category(s):Addictions
Source material from ScienceDaily
