Effects of an intravenous ketamine infusion on inflammatory cytokine levels in male and female Sprague–Dawley rats

BACKGROUND: Ketamine, a multimodal dissociative anesthetic drug, is widely used as an analgesic following traumatic injury. Although ketamine may produce anti-inflammatory effects when administered after injury, the immunomodulatory properties of intravenous (IV) ketamine in a non-inflammatory condition are unclear. In addition, most preclinical studies use an intraperitoneal (IP) injection of ketamine, which limits its clinical translation as patients usually receive an IV ketamine infusion after injury. METHODS: Here, we administered sub-anesthetic doses of a single IV ketamine infusion (0, 10, or 40 mg/kg) to male and female Sprague–Dawley rats over a 2-h period. We collected blood samples at 2- and 4-h post-ketamine infusion to determine plasma inflammatory cytokine levels using multiplex immunoassays. RESULTS: The 10 mg/kg ketamine infusion reduced spontaneous locomotor activity in male and female rats, while the 40 mg/kg infusion stimulated activity in female, but not male, rats. The IV ketamine infusion produced dose-dependent and sex-specific effects on plasma inflammatory cytokine levels. A ketamine infusion reduced KC/GRO and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels in both male and female rats, interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in female rats, and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels in male rats. However, most cytokine levels returned to control levels at 4-h post-infusion, except for IL-6 levels in male rats and TNF-α levels in female rats, indicating a different trajectory of certain cytokine changes over time following ketamine administration. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest that sub-anesthetic doses of an IV ketamine infusion may produce sex-related differences in the effects on peripheral inflammatory markers in rodents, and further research is warranted to determine potential therapeutic effects of an IV ketamine infusion in an inflammatory condition.