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

The general anesthetics, nitrous oxide (N2O) and keramine, 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. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.