While the effect of MPEP in the NSF was not attenuated by NBQX in the present study, we reported that the effect of ketamine was blocked by NBQX in the same paradigm. Therefore, the mGlu5 receptor antagonist may increase 5-HT release via a different neural mechanism from that of ketamine, i.e., an AMPA receptor-independent mechanism, which may explain the involvement of distinct 5-HT receptor subtypes buy Protease Inhibitor Library in the effects in the NSF test. The neural mechanism of 5-HT release and the activation of the 5-HT2A/2C receptor induced by an mGlu5 receptor
antagonist in the NSF test remain to be elucidated. Treatment with MTEP reportedly increases 5-HT release without elevating 5-HTIAA in the prefrontal cortex in rats, indicating that the blockade of the mGlu5 receptor may inhibit the 5-HT transporter to increase 5-HT release (21).
However, Heidbreder et al. (2003) reported that MPEP had a moderate affinity for the norepinephrine (NE) transporter, but not for the 5-HT transporter, as evaluated using radioligand binding assays (26). Moreover, 5-HT transporter inhibitors reportedly do not exert an effect after acute treatment MLN8237 datasheet in the NSF test (28), which is in accord with our previous finding (22). Therefore, it is unlikely that an mGlu5 receptor antagonist increases 5-HT release by inhibiting the 5-HT transporter. Of note, a previous study showed that gene deletion of the mGlu5 receptor in mice increased the behavioral response to a 5-HT2A receptor agonist, suggesting until that blockade of the mGlu5 receptor may enhance the sensitivity to the 5-HT2A receptor (29). Moreover, 5-HT2 receptors are positioned on GABAergic neurons (30), and the stimulation of 5-HT2 receptors increases GABA release in the prefrontal cortex (31). Given that the GABAergic system is known to be disrupted in depressed patients (for a review, see Ref. (32)), it is intriguing to speculate that regulation of the GABAergic system
via the 5-HT2 receptor may be involved in the antidepressant effect of mGlu5 receptor antagonists. The present study has a notable limitation. The specificity of the mGlu5 receptor antagonist, MPEP was not optimal, as it also inhibits the NMDA receptor and NE transporter (26) and (33) as well as acting as a positive allosteric modulator of the mGlu4 receptor (34). However, MPEP acts on the above-mentioned receptors and transporter at a concentration more than 1000 times higher than that blocks the mGlu5 receptor (an IC50 value of 36 nM) (35), and MPEP did not exhibit an antidepressant-like effect in mGlu5 receptor-knockout mice in the forced swimming test (36). Thus, the effect of MPEP at a dose 3 mg/kg can most likely be attributed to the blockade of the mGlu5 receptor.