Effects on Calcineurin Immunopositivity and Testes Cells of Ketamine in Adult Rat: An Immunhistochemistry and Histopathological Study

In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of long-term ketamine upon testis germ cells and the regional distributions of calcineurin immunopositive testis germ cells in adult male rats. Thirty adult male, Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into one control and four treatment groups, with 6 rats in each. Rats in treatment groups of 1, 2, 3 and 4 received ketamine at doses of 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/kg intraperiotenal (i.p.), respectively, while those in group 5 (as control) received i.p. 0.9 % NaCl. In this study, we observed degeneration in germ cells and oedema in testis connective tissue. However, we determined that ketamine remained in tissue for a long term and high-dose resulted in a decrease in the numbers of germ cells and Leydig cells. However, there were varying degrees, from (+) to (+++), of calcineurin immunoreac-tivity in testicular tissue sections stained with immunohistochemical methods. The results suggest that long-term use of high-dose ketamine may cause male infertility due to histopathological and immunohistochemical changes in testicular interstitial tissues, as well as changes in sperm density and germ cell number.