Effect of chronic alcohol intake on anesthetic response to ketamine and diazepam in mice

Ninety animals were used in the study and each animal served as its own control. Alcohol fed animals were maintained on water containing 12% (v/v) ethanol for 21 days. Sixteen hours after alcohol was withdrawn on the twenty second day, the following drug/dose combinations were administered intraperitoneally to the mice (10 animals in each group) - Diazepam 10, 15 and 20 mg kg -1 , ethanol 2.4, 3.2 and 4 g kg -1 ; and ketamine 75, 100 and 125 mg kg -1 . Three different responses were assessed in each animal: (i) loss of righting reflex (induction of anesthesia); (ii) response to a painful stimulus (analgesia); and (iii) sleeping time (duration of anesthesia)