Differential effects of ketamine enantiomers on NMDA receptor currents in cultured neurons

The effects of R- and S-ketamine on N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-activated cation currents (NMDA receptor currents) of voltage-clamped cultured rat hippocampal neurons were investigated using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Both enantiomers exhibited a voltage- and use-dependent blockade of NMDA receptor currents, with the S-enantiomer being about twice as potent as the R-enantiomer. Calculated relative forward and backward rates suggest that conformational differences influence the dissociation from the binding site more than the association with it.