title: Ketamine blocks Ca2+-activated K+ channels in rabbit cerebral arterial smooth muscle cells.
abstract: Although ketamine and Ca2+-activated K+ (KCa) channels have been implicated in the contractile activity regulation of cerebral arteries, no studies have addressed the specific interactions between ketamine and the KCa channels in cerebral arteries. The purpose of this study was to examine the direct effects of ketamine on KCa channel activities using the patch-clamp technique in single-cell preparations of rabbit middle cerebral arterial smooth muscle. We tested the hypothesis that ketamine modulates the KCa channel activity of the cerebral arterial smooth muscle cells of the rabbit. Vascular myocytes were isolated from rabbit middle cerebral arteries using enzymatic dissociation. Single KCa channel activities of smooth muscle cells from rabbit cerebral arteries were recorded using the patch-clamp technique. In the inside-out patches, ketamine in the micromolar range inhibited channel activity with a half-maximal inhibition of the ketamine concentration value of 83.8 +/- 12.9 microM. The Hill coefficient was 1.2 +/- 0.3. The slope conductance of the current-voltage relationship was 320.1 +/- 2.0 pS between 0 and +60 mV in the presence of ketamine and symmetrical 145 mM K+. Ketamine had little effect on either the voltage-dependency or open- and closed-time histograms of KCa channel. The present study clearly demonstrates that ketamine inhibits KCa channel activities in rabbit middle cerebral arterial smooth muscle cells. This inhibition of KCa channels may represent a mechanism for ketamine-induced cerebral vasoconstriction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Molecular Cell Physiology Research Group, College of Medicine, Inje University, 633-165 Gaegum-Dong, Busanjin-Gu, Busan 614-735, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Nari
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Joo
authors.forename: Euiyong
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects; D007649:Ketamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D020768:Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000166:cytology*; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D026902:Potassium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D024681:Potassium Channels, Calcium-Activated / Q000378:metabolism*; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D026902:Potassium Channel Blockers; D024681:Potassium Channels, Calcium-Activated; D007649:Ketamine