The Antidepressant Effects of an mGlu2/3 Receptor Antagonist and Ketamine Require AMPA Receptor Stimulation in the mPFC and Subsequent Activation of the 5-HT Neurons in the DRN

We have reported the antidepressant effects of both metabotropic glutamate 2/3 (mGlu2/3) receptor antagonists and ketamine in several animal models, and proposed that serotonergic (5-HTergic) transmission is involved in these actions. Given that the projections from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), where the majority of serotonin (5-HT) neurons exist, are reportedly involved in the antidepressant effects, in this study, we investigated using the forced swimming test (FST) of C57BL/6J male mice, the role of 5-HT neurons in the DRN regulated by the mPFC-DRN projections in the antidepressant effects of an mGlu2/3 receptor antagonist, LY341495, and ketamine. Following systemic administration/microinjection into the mPFC, both LY341495 and ketamine were found to exert antidepressant effects in the FST, and the effects were attenuated by depletion of 5-HT by treatment with an inhibitor of 5-HT synthesis, PCPA. The antidepressant effects of LY341495 and ketamine were also blocked by systemic administration/microinjection into the mPFC of an AMPA receptor antagonist, NBQX. Moreover, systemic administration/microinjection into the mPFC of LY341495 and ketamine significantly increased the c-Fos expression in the 5-HT neurons in the DRN, and the effect of systemic administration of these drugs on the neuronal c-Fos expression was attenuated by microinjection of NBQX into the mPFC. Our findings suggest that activation of 5-HT neurons in the DRN regulated by stimulation of the AMPA receptor in the mPFC may be involved in the antidepressant effects of an mGlu2/3 receptor antagonist and ketamine.