Decreased Blood Levels of Oxytocin in Ketamine-Dependent Patients During Early Abstinence

Abstract

Background: Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, is a common drug of abuse worldwide. Existing evidence suggest a disruption of oxytocin system involves in the development of addiction. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of oxytocin in ketamine addiction by measuring the blood oxytocin levels in ketamine-dependent (KD) patients.Methods: Sixty-five KD patients and 65 controls were enrolled. Fasting plasma levels of oxytocin were determined at baseline and 1 and 2 weeks after ketamine withdrawal. Ketamine use variables, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Visual Analog Scale for craving, and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-short form were assessed in KD patients.Results: KD patients had significantly lower levels of oxytocin at baseline compared to controls (5.89 ± 2.13 vs. 9.53 ± 4.17 ng/mL, P < 0.001). Oxytocin levels increased after one (6.74 ± 2.63, P < 0.002) and 2 weeks (6.89 ± 2.69, P = 0.01) of withdrawal in KD patient despite the levels were still lower than controls (P = 0.001 and 0.002, respectively). The clinical variables did not correlate with baseline oxytocin levels except BAI scores, which showed a negative correlation with the levels (r = −0.263; P = 0.039).Conclusion: We found a distinctively reduced oxytocin level in KD patients and the level did not normalize after early abstinence. Lower oxytocin might be associated with anxious phenotype of ketamine dependence. These results suggest that oxytocin system dysregulated following chronic ketamine abuse and might provide insight in evaluating the potential therapeutic use of oxytocin for treating ketamine dependence.

Ketamine induces endoplasmic reticulum stress in rats and SV-HUC-1 human uroepithelial cells by activating NLRP3/TXNIP aix

“…In our study, we used Wistar rats and SV-HUC-1 cells to build a model of ketamine-associated cystitis by ketamine treatment. The results indicated that ketamine treatment caused significant damages to rat bladder tissues and reduced SV-HUC-1 cell viability, and these phenomena were similar to those in the patients and mice who had a long history of taking ketamine [27,28]. Those data suggested that the model of ketamine-associated cystitis in vivo and in vitro were successfully established and laid the foundation to further research on the underlying mechanisms.…”

Role of Asxl2 in non‑alcoholic steatohepatitis‑related hepatocellular carcinoma developed from diabetes

“…In the present study, NASH-HCC was first induced in ApoE −/− mice by injecting STZ and feeding the mice a HFD, as previously described ( 26 ). It was found that the concentration of blood glucose was significantly increased in the STZ-HFD mice, which was consistent with the results of a previous study showing that STZ increased blood glucose ( 27 ). The serum levels of the hepatic enzymes, ALT and AST, were measured to indicate liver cell damage ( 28 ), and the serum level of TBA was detected as an index of character cholestasis ( 29 ).…”

Psychedelics in Psychiatry: Neuroplastic, Immunomodulatory, and Neurotransmitter Mechanisms

“…Decreased cue-induced craving and risk of relapse have been observed after ketamine administration (Dakwar et al, 2014(Dakwar et al, , 2017(Dakwar et al, , 2019(Dakwar et al, , 2020. Suggesting long-term deleterious effects of ketamine abuse on sociability, decreased levels of circulating oxytocin have been described in ketamine-dependent individuals in the early phases of abstinence that were still present 2 weeks after (Huang et al, 2018). Future studies should assess whether this is true when employing clinically relevant regimens.…”