The Effects of Ketamine on the Gut Microbiome on CD1 Mice

The intestinal microbiota of an organism can significantly alter outcome data in otherwise identical experiments. Occasionally, animals may require sedation or anesthesia for scientific or health-related purposes, and certain anesthetics, such as ketamine, can profoundly affect the gastrointestinal system. While many factors can alter the gut microbiome (GM), the effects of anesthetics on the composition or diversity of the GM have not been established. The goal of the current study was to determine whether daily administration of ketamine would significantly alter the microbiome of CD1 mice. To achieve this goal, female CD1 mice received daily injections of ketamine HCl (100 mg/kg) or the equivalent volume of 0.9% saline for 10 consecutive days. Fecal samples were collected before the first administration and 24 h after the final dose of either ketamine or saline. Samples were analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing to identify changes between groups in diversity or composition of GM. The study found no significant changes to the GM after serial ketamine administration when treated mice were housed with controls. Therefore, ketamine administration is unlikely to alter the GM of a CD1 mouse and should not serve be a confounding factor in reproducibility of research.