Journal of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences

Background and Objectives: Nowadays, the use of ketamine has spread as a recreational drug. Therefore, this study was performed to evaluate the effects of long-term administration of ketamine on some hematological and biochemical parameters and tissue changes in rats.
Material and Methods: in this experimental study, forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into two control (sham) (n=20) and experimental (n=20) groups. The animals in the sham group received saline solution and the experimental group received ketamine (15 mg/kg) as intraperitoneal injection. At the days of 0, 20, 40, and 60 post injection, five rats from each group were euthanized and anatomized. Some biochemical parameters of the serum were measured and the livers and kidneys tissues underwent microscopic examination. The ANOVA,Tukey post hoc test, and non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test were used for data analysis.
Results: The results indicated that ketamine caused an increase in the number of White Blood Cells and liver enzymes levels, the creatinine, urea, cortisol, and glucose concentrations and a decrease in the total protein and globulin in serum of ketamine group as compared to the control group. In examining the liver, vacuolar degeneration, congestion and dilation of sinusoids, infiltration of mononuclear cells around the portal area, and parenchymal necrosis were observed, and tubular epithelial cell degeneration and necrosis, tubular and glomerular atrophy, and infiltration of mononuclear cells were observed in the kidney.
Conclusion: The results indicated that ketamine causes kidney and liver tissues damages in rats. However more comprehensive studies are needed to determine the mechanism of ketamine’s action in long-term use.
Key words: Ketamine, Hematological changes, biochemical changes, Histopathology, Rat
 
Funding: There was no fund for this study.
Conflict of interest: None declared.
Ethical approval: The Ethics Committee of Razi University of Kermanshah approved the study (397-2-02).
 
How to cite this article: Hashemnia M, Javedani M, Nikoosafat Z, Abdoli Jamoor S. Study of Hematological, Biochemical and Histopathological Changes Due to Long-Term Administration of Ketamine in Rat[a1] . [12] J Rafsanjan Univ Med Sci 2018; 17 (7): 639-56. [Farsi]