Effect of Three Types of Mixed Anesthetic Agents Alternate to Ketamine in Mice

Abstract

Ketamine is usually used for murine anesthesia in animal experiments with other anesthetics for its sedation and analgesic effects. However, ketamine was categorized as a narcotic drug in Japan on January 1, 2007. After this act came into effect, a narcotic handling license became necessary for using and possessing ketamine. Pentobarbital sodium, which is also used for laboratory animal experiments as Nembutal, is no longer being manufactured. For these reasons, other anesthetic agents that can be used without a license are needed. In this paper, we examined the use of anesthetics other than ketamine and pentobarbital sodium. A combination anesthetic (M/M/B: 0.3/4/5) was prepared with 0.3 mg/ kg of medetomidine, 4.0 mg/kg of midazolam, and 5.0 mg/kg of butorphanol. The anesthetics were administered to male ICR mice by intraperitoneal injection. In order to assess anesthetic depth and duration, we stimulated the mice directly after loss of righting reflexes to recovery of these same reflexes and then recorded four parameters-a tail pinch reflex, a pedal withdrawal reflex in the forelimbs, a pedal withdrawal reflex in the hindlimbs, and corneal reflex. Each parameter was scored, and the anesthetic depth, expressed by the total score, was summed. The surgical anesthesia duration of M/M/B: 0.3/4/5 mg/kg was almost identical to the surgical anesthetic duration with a ketamine and xylazine mixture (80-8 mg/kg). These data suggested that mice can be anesthetized by M/M/B: 0.3/4/5 as an alternate to ketamine. We thus can recommend M/M/B: 0.3/4/5 for murine surgical anesthesia.

Analyses of anaesthesia with ketamine combined with different sedatives in rats

“…The lowest HR was observed with medetomidine and xylazine, similar to that reported by Redfors et al (2014) who, using the ketamine/xylazine combination (30/5 mg/kg), observed a HR even lower than seen in our study with the same anaesthetic combination but at a higher concentration (75/5 mg/kg). It has been reported that the effect of combinations of ketamine and xylazine depends on the quantities of ketamine and xylazine (Arras et al 2001;Kawai et al 2011). The other combinations produced a small reduction in HR (Arras et al 2001;Orr et al 2005), with a lower reduction in males than in females.…”

Evaluation of different central nervous system depressors combined with ketamine for anaesthesia in mice

“…administration, relative safety among injectable agents, and ability to produce CNS effects such as catalepsia, analgesia, dissociation from environment and amnesia (Murray et al 2000;Richardson and Flecknell 2005;Baker et al 2011;Kawai et al 2011). Plumb (2008 indicates a dose of 50-100 mg/kg of ketamine only in mice.…”

Influence of Mechanical Force on Bone Matrix Proteins in Ovariectomised Mice and Osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 Cells

“…After an acclimation period of 1 week, the mice were subjected to bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) or a sham operation via a dorsolateral incision after intraperitoneal administration of a combination anaesthetic [medetomidine hydrochloride, 0.3 mg/kg (Domitol; Nippon Zenyaku Kogyo Co., Ltd., Fukushima, Japan); midazolam, 4.0 mg/kg (Sandoz; Sandoz K.K. Tokyo, Japan) and butorphanol, 5.0 mg/kg (Vetorphale; Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan)] (20,21). For OVX, the ovaries were excised, oviducts were put back in their original position and the incisions were closed.…”