Changes in hepatic and renal enzyme concentrations and heart and respiratory rates in new zealand white rabbits after anesthetic treatments.

To assess the response of hepatic and renal biochemical parameters and heart and respiratory rates to anesthesia, we allocated 30 New Zealand White rabbits to three treatment groups (n = 10 each) which received intravenous (i.v.) saline or ketamine (10 mg/kg i.v.) with either xylazine (3 mg/kg i.v.) or diazepam (2 mg/kg i.v.). Blood samples were obtained from the central ear artery before injection and at 10, 30, 60, and 120 min and 24 h after injection. Plasma alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, gamma glutamiltransferase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine levels were measured by using an autoanalyzer. The administration of ketamine-xylazine or ketamine-diazepam significantly increased plasma alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine levels, although most parameters remained within the normal range for the species. Respiratory rate significantly decreased in both anesthetized groups whereas heart rate significantly decreased after ketamine-xylazine administration. We concluded that both ketamine-xylazine and ketamine-diazepam induced changes in hepatic and renal biochemical parameters and heart and respiratory rates. Therefore, these changes should be taken into account during the interpretation of experimental results obtained from animals under general anesthesia because the effect of anesthetics may lead to erroneous conclusions.