N-Acetylcysteine Mitigates Ketamine Neurotoxicity in Young Rats by Modulating ROS-Mediated Pyroptosis and Ferroptosis.
Molecular neurobiology March 20, 2025 Hui Bai, Hui Chen, Shan Du et al. 4 citations
Ketamine, a common anesthetic for children, can harm the developing brain by triggering two forms of cell death: ferroptosis and pyroptosis. In experiments on newborn rats and cultured nerve cells, giving N-acetylcysteine (NAC) beforehand reduced damage. NAC lowered harmful lipid oxidation and mitochondrial injury, blocked pyroptosis driven by the NLRP3/caspase-1 pathway, and lessened hippocampal tissue damage and later cognitive problems. The results indicate that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are central to ketamine's developmental neurotoxicity, and NAC protects the brain by inhibiting ROS-driven ferroptosis and pyroptosis.