@article { author = {Yuan, Chengdong and Zhang, Yajun and Zhang, Yu and Cao, Song and Wang, Yuan and Fu, Bao and Yu, Tian}, title = {Effects of Ketamine on Neuronal Spontaneous Excitatory Postsynaptic Currents and Miniature Excitatory Postsynaptic Currents in the Somatosensory Cortex of Rats}, journal = {Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences}, volume = {41}, number = {4}, pages = {275-282}, year = {2016}, publisher = {Shiraz University of Medical Sciences}, issn = {0253-0716}, eissn = {1735-3688}, doi = {}, abstract = {Background: Ketamine is a commonly used intravenous anesthetic which produces dissociation anesthesia, analgesia, and amnesia. The mechanism of ketamine-induced synaptic inhibition in high-level cortical areas is still unknown. We aimed to elucidate the effects of different concentrations of ketamine on the glutamatergic synaptic transmission of the neurons in the primary somatosensory cortex by using the whole-cell patch-clamp method.Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats (11–19 postnatal days, n=36) were used to obtain brain slices (300 μM). Spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (data from 40 neurons) were recorded at a command potential of -70 mV in the presence of bicuculline (a competitive antagonist of GABAA receptors, 30 μM) and strychnine (glycine receptor antagonist, 30 μM). Miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (data from 40 neurons) were also recorded when 1 μM of tetrodotoxin was added into the artificial cerebrospinal fluid. We used GraphPad Prism5for statistical analysis. Significant differences in the mean amplitude and frequency were tested using the Student paired 2-tailed t test. Values of p}, keywords = {Ketamine,Patch-clamp techniques,Excitatory postsynaptic potentials,Synaptic transmission}, url = {https://ijms.sums.ac.ir/article_40372.html}, eprint = {https://ijms.sums.ac.ir/article_40372_d729814251e0209b5e8045c40520f683.pdf} }