Abstract: Ketamine is a phencyclidine derivative acting primarily as a noncompetitive antagonist of Nmethyl-D-aspartate(NMDA) excitatory glutamate receptors.As a common intravenous anaesthetic in clinic,it is also increasingly abused because of its hallucination and addiction effects.Based on the pharmacological and toxicologic characteristics of ketamine and the acknowledged addiction mechanism of other abused drugs,this article reviews the possible addiction mechanism of the ketamine in the aspects of its enhanced effects and reward systems,the anatomic structures,the related receptors and the individual differences.

Key words: forensic toxicology, ketamine, review[publication type], substance-related disorders