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Repeated administration of ketamine may lead to neuronal degeneration in the developing rat brain
Hideaki Hayashi1, Pieter Dikkes, Sulpicio G Soriano
1Department of Anesthesia, Kansai Rosai Hospital, Japan.
Background:
This study was conducted to investigate, in vivo, the dose and duration effects of ketamine administration on neuronal degeneration in the developing rat brain.
Methods:
Seven-day-old (P7) Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with intraperitoneal injections of ketamine, a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist. Degenerating neurones were identified by the cupric-silver stain from 10 brain regions using the stereological disector method.
Results:
A single dose of ketamine (25, 50 and 75 mg.kg-1) did not increase neuronal degeneration compared with the saline-treated control. However, repeated doses of ketamine (25 mg.kg-1) at 90-min intervals over 9 h increased degenerating neurones in seven out of 10 brain regions.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that the duration of ketamine exposure correlates with increased neuronal degeneration in the developing rat brain.
