Antidepressant Low Doses of Ketamine and Melatonin in Combination Produce Additive Neurogenesis in Human Olfactory Neuronal Precursors

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 27; no. 17; p. 5650
• Main Authors: Estrada-Reyes, Rosa, Quero-Chávez, Daniel B, Alarcón-Elizalde, Salvador, Cercós, Montserrat G, Trueta, Citlali, Constantino-Jonapa, Luis A, Oikawa-Sala, Julián, Argueta, Jesús, Cruz-Garduño, Ricardo, Dubocovich, Margarita L, Benítez-King, Gloria A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.09.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Animals; Antibodies; Antidepressants; Antidepressive Agents - metabolism; Antidepressive Agents - pharmacology; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Cell proliferation; Cells (biology); Clinical trials; Dosage and administration; Doublecortin protein; Drug dosages; Epidermal growth factor; Fibroblast growth factors; Glutamic acid receptors (ionotropic); Growth factors; Health aspects; Hippocampus - metabolism; Humans; Ketamine; Ketamine - metabolism; Ketamine - pharmacology; Kinases; Melatonin; Melatonin - metabolism; Melatonin - pharmacology; Melatonin receptors; Mental depression; Mice; N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors; Nestin; Neural stem cells; Neurogenesis; Neurons; olfactory neuronal precursors; Precursors; Progenitor cells; Rhinencephalon; Schedules; Side effects; Stem cells; Testing; Mexico; neurogenesis; antidepressants; melatonin; ketamine; olfactory neuronal precursors
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules27175650

Melatonin (MEL), an indolamine with diverse functions in the brain, has been shown to produce antidepressant-like effects, presumably through stimulating neurogenesis. We recently showed that the combination of MEL with ketamine (KET), an NMDA receptor antagonist, has robust antidepressant-like effects in mice, at doses that, by themselves, are non-effective and have no adverse effects. Here, we show that the KET/MEL combination increases neurogenesis in a clone derived from human olfactory neuronal precursors, a translational pre-clinical model for effects in the human CNS. Neurogenesis was assessed by the formation of cell clusters > 50 µm in diameter, positively stained for nestin, doublecortin, BrdU and Ki67, markers of progenitor cells, neurogenesis, and proliferation. FGF, EGF and BDNF growth factors increased the number of cell clusters in cultured, cloned ONPs. Similarly, KET or MEL increased the number of clusters in a dose-dependent manner. The KET/MEL combination further increased the formation of clusters, with a maximal effect obtained after a triple administration schedule. Our results show that the combination of KET/MEL, at subeffective doses that do not produce adverse effects, stimulate neurogenesis in human neuronal precursors. Moreover, the mechanism by which the combination elicits neurogenesis is meditated by melatonin receptors, CaM Kinase II and CaM antagonism. This could have clinical advantages for the fast treatment of depression.