Comparison of isomers of ketamine on catalepsy in the rat and electrical activity of the brain and behavior in the cat.

The present study compared the relative potency and efficacy of the two isomers of ketamine on the duration of catalepsy (loss of righting reflex) in female rats and on the behavior and electroencephalogram of cats. In the rat, at small doses, the S(+) isomer was more potent than the R(-) isomer or racemic ketamine, while at larger doses, the S(+) isomer and the racemate were equipotent and the R(-) isomer was significantly less potent. Tolerance developed rapidly to the effects of either isomer and both were equally cross-tolerant to racemic ketamine. Sub-effective doses of morphine significantly increased the potency of S(+), R(-) and racemic ketamine on the duration of catalepsy. Sub-effective doses of either isomer augmented the duration of catalepsy, induced by small doses of morphine, but reduced that of large doses. In cats, there was a parallel time course and progression of behavioral and electroencephalographic states in response to equal total doses of either racemic ketamine, an artificial 50:50 mixture of S(+) and R(-) isomers, or the S(+) isomer alone; approximately equivalent effects required twice the dose of the R(-) isomer. It is concluded that there is a common site of action for the two isomers, but there is also a stereospecific difference in potency, as regards the induction of catalepsy in the rat and behavioral and electroencephalographic effects in the cat. Stereospecificity was not apparent in the development of tolerance, cross-tolerance or the augmentation of the response to morphine.