The Effect of Repeated Doses of Ketamine on Hematological Parameters in Rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of repeated doses of ketamine on hematological parameters in rats. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that general and rapid-acting phencyclidine derivative. Ketamine, which is usually used in laboratory animals in combination with xylazine, can be used alone for short-term anesthesia in rats. General anesthesia applications repeated several times a day or on different days in animal experiments are used in pharmacokinetic studies where blood or other samples are required, in surgical procedures or drug applications on different days under anesthesia, in treatment applications such as painful wound care, regular dental care. In this study, 20 adult male Wistar albino rats , weighing between 180-230 g were used. Rats were divided into two groups as 10 rats in each group. The rats in the ketamine group received intraperitoneal injection of 10% Ketamine HCl at a dose of 50 mg/kg every other day for 12 days. The control group received 0.2 ml saline intraperitoneally at the same time. At the end of the study, 2 ml blood obtained by intracardiac route was placed in K 3 EDTA tubes. Hematological parameters include total leukocyte (WBC), erythrocyte (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), erythrocyte distribution width (RDW), lymphocyte (LYM), monocyte (MON), neutrophil (NEU), lymphocyte%, monocyte%, neutrophil% levels were measured with autoanalyzer device. According to the results, ketamine has statistically decreased only lymphocyte count ​​(p <0.05). In conclusion, ketamine caused changes in the lymphocyte values ​​according to the control group; however, since these changes were within the range of reference values ​​reported for rats, it was concluded that ketamine can be used safely in laboratory animals. Investigation of the effect of the anesthetic agents on blood parameters in laboratory animals is important in terms of the reliability of experimental studies.