The traditional Chinese medicine Kami-Shoyo-San can potentially protect against ketamine-induced brain damage, possibly by utilising brain-derived neurotrophic factor/tropomyosin receptor kinase B signaling pathway.
In this study, human embryonic stem cell-differentiated neurons were nurtured in a lab setting and exposed to a high concentration of ketamine to induce neuronal apoptosis. Before this, they were pre-treated with the traditional Chinese medicine Kami-Shoyo-San to determine its protective effect on these neurons affected by ketamine. The researchers measured changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor and tropomyosin receptor kinase B, the receptors for brain-derived neurotrophic factor, in response to Kami-Shoyo-San and ketamine treatment. To further explore its functional role in protecting the neurons, this signaling pathway was deactivated using a method called siRNA application.
The in-vitro experiments showed that a high concentration of ketamine did cause significant neuronal apoptosis, however, pre-incubation with Kami-Shoyo-San effectively counteracted this damage. As part of the possible protective mechanism, Kami-Shoyo-San was found to activate the brain-derived neurotrophic factor/tropomyosin receptor kinase B signaling pathway. Experimentally turning off this particular signaling pathway diminished the protective effects of Kami-Shoyo-San, providing additional support for its important role.
