Exposure to sub-chronic unpredictable stress accounts for antidepressant-like effects in hamsters treated with BDNF and CNQX

Recent evidences indicate that cerebral neurotrophic factors like vascular endothelial growth factor plus signaling pathways of the glutamatergic neuroreceptor system (L-Glu) are determinant modulators of depression-like states. In the present study, the type of interaction(s) exerted by the AMPAergic antagonist, 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxalin-2,3-dione (CNQX) and the brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on depression-like behaviors in hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) were investigated. Sub-chronic administration of BDNF in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) of stressed hamsters was responsible for very evident (p