Antidepressant effect of ketamine in sub anaesthetic doses in male albino mice

Depression is the most common mental disorder in community settings, and is a major cause of disability across the world. Antidepressants such as SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) and TCA (Tricyclic antidepressants) are used. These drugs affect the adrenergic and serotonergic pathways. These drugs have an unfavorable side effect profile, take longer time to act and are not very effective in resistant cases. Alternate pathways involving the glutamate receptors have also been linked with depression, hence Ketamine an NMDA antagonist was evaluated for the antidepressant effect. To study the antidepressant effect of ketamine in subanaesthetic doses in male albino mice. The study was a randomized controlled animal study done on 30 male albino BALB/c mice divided into five groups with Imipramine (10mg/kg) as the standard drug and Ketamine in varying doses (5, 7.5, 10 mg/kg) as the test drug. The animal model used was the forced swim test. The reduction in immobility time was taken as the index of the antidepressant effect. The data were analysed with the one way ANOVA test using SPSS version 12. The data analysis showed that Ketamine at a dose lower dose of Ketamine (5mg/kg) did not show a significant antidepressant effect in contrast to the higher doses (7.5 and 10mg/kg) which showed significant antidepressant effect ('p' > 0.05). The inference of this study is that Ketamine has significant antidepressant property at variable dose ranges and further studies can be done on these lines.