Neonatal exposure to the experimental environment or ketamine can induce long-term learning dysfunction or overmyelination in female but not male rats

Ketamine can induce neurotoxicity after exposures to the developing brain. To investigate whether ketamine at subanesthetic dosage or its environmental condition can cause long-term cognitive dysfunction after multiple exposures in male or female neonatal rats, postnatal day 5 (P5)-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into three groups: ketamine group, vehicle group, and control group (no disturbance). Learning and memory abilities from P60 to P65 and immunofluorescence tests for myelin basic protein (MBP) in gray matter on P65 were conducted. The results showed that in female rats, the path length on day 1 in ketamine group and on days 1 and 2 in vehicle group was longer than that in control (P0.05). The mean density of MBP in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was significantly increased in vehicle and ketamine groups compared with that in control (P0.05). Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between MBP density in the mPFC and path length in adult female rats (r=0.753, P
Source: NeuroReport - Category: Neurology Tags: CELLULAR, MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE Source Type: research