The Effect of Repeated Doses of Intermittent Ketamine on Erythrocyte Deformability in Infant Rats

Abstract

Aim: Blood rheology, which is affected by many factors, is also known to be affected by drugs used for anesthesia. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of 21-day ketamine administration on erythrocyte deformability in 3-week-old infant rats

Methods: Twelve 12 week old Wistar Albino male infant rats were randomly divided into two groups. Ketamine group (K), n:6, 50 mg/kg ketamine was administered intraperitoneally at the same time daily for 21 days. Saline group (S), n.6, 50 mg/kg normal saline was administered intraperitoneally at the same time daily for 21 days. After 21 days of administration, all rats were euthanized by intraperitoneal ketamine (100 mg/kg) and taken blood from abdominal aorta. Erythrocytes were obtained from heparinized blood samples. Deformability measurements were performed on erythrocyte suspensions in phosphate buffered saline. For the measurement of erythrocyte deformability, a constant flow filtrometer system was used and the relative resistance was calculated.

Results: Ketamine administration was found to increase relative resistance. The erythrocyte deformability index was significantly higher in the ketamine group compared to the saline group (p:0.006).

Conclusion: We found that long-term repeated ketamine administration negatively affected erythrocyte deformability. In our study, we think that the results obtained in daily anesthesia will be a guide for repeated administration of ketamine, especially in radiation oncology. However, these findings should be supported by clinical and experimental studies in more detailed and large series.