A comparative evaluation of the neurotoxic properties of ketamine and nitrous oxide

Vesna Jevtovic-Todorovic, David F. Wozniak, Nicholas D. Benshoff, John W. Olney

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

114 Scopus citations

Abstract

The general anesthetics, nitrous oxide (N2O) and ketamine, are NMDA antagonists which, like other NMDA antagonists such as MK801, induce a neurotoxic reaction in the rat brain. For MK801 neurotoxicity, both age and sex are important variables (adult rats are more sensitive than immature rats and females are more sensitive than males). In this study we found that ketamine has this same age and sex dependency profile, and N2O has the same age but not sex dependency. Male and female rats are equally sensitive to N2O neurotoxicity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)264-267
Number of pages4
JournalBrain Research
Volume895
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 23 2001

Keywords

  • Age
  • Hyperbaric chamber
  • NMDA antagonist
  • Rat cortex
  • Sex

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