Differential role of AMPA receptors in mouse tests of antidepressant and anxiolytic action.

Depression and anxiety often co-occur, and conventional monoamine-facilitating antidepressants show efficacy against symptoms in both disorders. Rodent studies indicate that antidepressant effects of monoamine-based antidepressants involve increased α-amino-3-hydroxy-5- methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid glutamate receptor (AMPAR) neurotransmission, and positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) at AMPARs produced antidepressant-like effects in rodents. While this suggests that increased AMPAR-mediated neurotransmission is beneficial in depression management, preclinical studies addressing AMPARs in relation to anxiety have given ambiguous results with both anxiolytic-like and anxiogenic-like effects observed after AMPAR blockade.