Anesthesiology
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Background The neuronal mechanisms responsible for dissociative anesthesia remain controversial. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are inhibited by ketamine and related drugs at concentrations lower than those required for anesthetic effects. Thus, the authors studied whether ligand-gated ion channels other than NMDA receptors might display a sensitivity to ketamine and dizocilpine that is consistent with concentrations required for anesthesia. ⋯ Human nAChRs are inhibited by ketamine and dizocilpine at concentrations possibly achieved in vivo during anesthesia in a subunit-dependent manner, with beta subunits being more critical than alpha subunits. Conversely, 5-HT3, GABAA, and glycine receptors were relatively insensitive to dissociative anesthetics.