Open Access

ARTICLE

Ketamine effect on intracellular and mitochondrial calcium mobilization

by Juanita BUSTAMANTE, Analía CZERNICZYNIEC, Silvia LORES-ARNAIZ

1 Centro de Altos Estudios en Ciencias Humanas y de la Salud (CAECIHS), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Abierta Interamericana, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2 Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

* Address correspondence to: Juanita Bustamante,

BIOCELL 2016, 40(1), 11-14. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2016.40.011

Abstract

The suppressive effects of ketamine on intracellular calcium has been reported in a variety of cells although the mechanisms involved are not well understood. The aim of this work was to evaluate the ketamine effect on the mitochondrial Ca²⁺ accumulation and the cellular Ca²⁺ mobilization using FLUO4-AM and flow cytometry. The results showed that mitochondria from ketamine injected animals presented a lower ability to retain calcium at concentrations higher than 20 μM, as compared with controls (saline injected animals). In addition, ketamine showed a significant decreased KCl-induced intracellular calcium concentration. KCl increased calcium influx through cellular depolarization. According to the data presented herein, ketamine presents a clear inhibitory effect on cytosolic Ca²⁺ transport mechanisms, independently from their action on the calcium channel associated NMDA receptor.

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Citations