Submission Type
Poster
Abstract
With the new release of medications incorporating ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic, there is an ecotoxicology concern due to the presence of ketamine in local environments. Tardigrades, microscopic organisms commonly known as water bears, possess the same NDMA receptor that ketamine targets in humans, allowing for potential adverse reactions in exposure to ketamine. Our goal was to determine if tardigrade movement slowed under ketamine exposure over time. Tardigrade (Hypsibius exemplaris) velocity was measured using imaging software to record their response to increasing concentrations of the dissociative anesthetic. With higher concentrations, the tardigrades displayed a slower velocity. This indication of a negative relationship between ketamine and tardigrade velocity is of considerable interest due to the growing popularity of ketamine as an anti-depressant and the expected increase of ketamine concentrations in natural waters due to improper drug disposal. Since tardigrade activity is being depressed by ketamine, it can be inferred that it will have similar effects on other microinvertebrates and possible broader ramifications in local food webs, including impacts on higher trophic levels through biomagnification.
Included in
Biology Commons, Other Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Ketamine slows microinvertebrate movement: ecotoxicological implications
With the new release of medications incorporating ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic, there is an ecotoxicology concern due to the presence of ketamine in local environments. Tardigrades, microscopic organisms commonly known as water bears, possess the same NDMA receptor that ketamine targets in humans, allowing for potential adverse reactions in exposure to ketamine. Our goal was to determine if tardigrade movement slowed under ketamine exposure over time. Tardigrade (Hypsibius exemplaris) velocity was measured using imaging software to record their response to increasing concentrations of the dissociative anesthetic. With higher concentrations, the tardigrades displayed a slower velocity. This indication of a negative relationship between ketamine and tardigrade velocity is of considerable interest due to the growing popularity of ketamine as an anti-depressant and the expected increase of ketamine concentrations in natural waters due to improper drug disposal. Since tardigrade activity is being depressed by ketamine, it can be inferred that it will have similar effects on other microinvertebrates and possible broader ramifications in local food webs, including impacts on higher trophic levels through biomagnification.
Comments
Gracie Vieira, Xavier University