Quercetin protects the myocardium from the effects of ketamine
The Journal of V N Karazin Kharkiv National University series Medicine October 31, 2025 А.о. Mykytenko, V.о. Ponomarenko, V.а. Yakobenchuk et al.
Injecting the bioflavonoid quercetin (as corvitin) before ketamine administration in rats reduced several markers of heart damage. Compared to rats given only ketamine, those pretreated with quercetin showed lower activity of total NO-synthase (1.48 times), inducible NO-synthase (1.5 times), and arginase (1.21 times), along with decreased peroxynitrite (1.44 times), nitrite (1.67 times), superoxide anion radical production (1.53 times), catalase activity (1.06 times), and lipid peroxidation products such as malone dialdehyde (1.68 times) and diene conjugates (1.2 times). Superoxide dismutase activity increased 1.13 times and nitrosothiols content rose 1.54 times. These results suggest quercetin protects heart muscle cells from ketamine-induced injury by boosting antioxidant defenses and reducing free radical production.