Cheung Hoi Man, Yew David Tai Wai
School of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong.
Hong Kong College of Technology, Sha Tin, Hong Kong.
Front Neurosci. 2019 Feb 22;13:138. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00138. eCollection 2019.
Initially used as an analgesic and anesthetic, ketamine has unfortunately been abused as a popular recreational party drug due to its psychotropic effects. Over the last decade, ketamine has also emerged as an effective rapid-onset anti-depressant. The increasingly widespread use and misuse of the drug in infants and pregnant women has posed a concern about the neurotoxicity of ketamine to the immature brains of developing fetuses and children. In this review, we summarize recent research findings on major possible mechanisms of perinatal ketamine-induced neurotoxicity. We also briefly summarize the neuroprotective effects of ketamine in the presence of noxious stimuli. Future actions include implementation of more drug abuse education and prevention campaigns to raise the public's awareness of the harmful effects of ketamine abuse; further investigations to justify the clinical use of ketamine as analgesic, anesthetic and anti-depressant; and further studies to develop alternatives to ketamine or treatments that can alleviate the detrimental effects of ketamine use, especially in infants and pregnant women.
氯胺酮最初用作镇痛药和麻醉药，但不幸的是，由于其精神作用，它已被滥用作一种流行的娱乐性派对药物。在过去十年中，氯胺酮还成为一种有效的速效抗抑郁药。该药物在婴儿和孕妇中越来越广泛的使用和滥用引发了人们对氯胺酮对发育中胎儿和儿童未成熟大脑神经毒性的担忧。在本综述中，我们总结了围产期氯胺酮诱导神经毒性主要可能机制的近期研究结果。我们还简要总结了在有害刺激存在下氯胺酮的神经保护作用。未来的行动包括开展更多药物滥用教育和预防运动，以提高公众对氯胺酮滥用有害影响的认识；进行进一步调查以证明氯胺酮作为镇痛药、麻醉药和抗抑郁药的临床用途合理；以及开展进一步研究以开发氯胺酮的替代品或能够减轻使用氯胺酮有害影响的治疗方法，特别是在婴儿和孕妇中。
