EFFECT OF KETAMINE SYSTEMIC SUBANAESTETHIC DOSES ON ANXIETY IN THE PLUS MAZE TEST IN RATS

GUEVARA MANUEL; GIAI MARCOS; GARGIULO PASCUAL

Mendoza

Otro; XXXI Annual Scientific Meeting; 2013

Sociedad de Biología de cuyo

Psychotogenic effects of ketamine, due to antagonism of NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartic acid) glutamate receptors, are widely known, and they are a subject of study in our laboratory. In previous studies we have verified the action of such antagonists injected into brain structures related to schizophrenic psychoses in behavioral tests in rats. In present study we searched for the effect of systemic administration of ketamine at low doses in the ?plus maze? test. The plus maze test is a classical anxiety test. Time spent in the open arm, open and closed arm entries, time per entry and grooming are usually measured in our laboratory as anxiety parameters. Three systemically administrated doses were compared with vehicle: 1.25, 2.50 and 5 mg/kg. Statistically significant reduction was observed in the time spent in the open arm and time per entry (p