Aims: Administration of ketamine causes neurodegenration in immature rats’ brain and memory impairment during their growth. Considering the importance of hippocampus in bringing about memory as well as the widespread use of ketamine in anesthesia, the present study investigated the effect of chronic treatment of ketamine administration on the cells in hippocampus’s CA1 region.

Methods: Ten Wistar male rats (250-300g) were divided into two control and ketamine groups. Control group received normal salin1cc and ketamine group received ketamine drug Intraperitoneally by dose of 30mg/kg for 5 days. After trans-cardial perfusion, animals’ brain was removed and after the preparation of tissue blocks and brain sections, healthy cells of CA1 region of hippocampus were counted. Finally data was analyzed using SPSS 16 software and student T-test.

Results: Administration of ketamine caused an increase in the pyknotic cells in the hippocampus’s CA1 region, indicating the significant decrease in the healthy cells (95.50±3.57) in ketamine group compared with control group (203.17±11.57 p<0.001).

Conclusion: Ketamine administration leads to cell death in hippocampus’s CA1 region.