MicroPET/CT Assessment of Minocycline Effects on Anesthetic-Induced Neuronal Injury in Developing Rats

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that is frequently used for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia in children. It has been reported that blockade of NMDA receptors by ketamine may cause neurotoxicity in neonatal rats when given over a 12 hour period during the brain growth spurt. Noninvasive, quantitative imaging of rodent brains may allow for the detection of functional, morphological and metabolic alterations induced by ketamine. Since it is known that level of the mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO), formerly known as the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) increase in areas of neuronal injury following exposure to neurotoxicants, TSPOs are widely recognized as important targets for imaging using positron emission tomography (PET).