Effects of sevoflurane on primary neuronal cultures of embryonic rats
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Published on: February 10, 2016
Monika Berns1, Robert Zacharias, Lucas Seeberg
1Klinik für Neonatologie, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Charité Centrum 17 für Frauen-, Kinder- und Jugendmedizin mit Perinatalzentrum und Humangenetik, Berlin, Germany. monika.berns@charite.de
Background And Objective:
Commonly used anaesthetics can cause neurodegeneration in the developing brain. Sevoflurane, a widely used substance in paediatric anaesthesia, has not been analysed thus far. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of sevoflurane on neuronal cell viability.
Methods:
Primary cortical neuronal cultures were prepared from Wistar rat embryos (E18), kept in 100 microl Gibco-Neurobasal-A medium and exposed to 4 and 8 Vol.% sevoflurane for up to 48 h. Cell viability was assessed using the methyltetrazolium assay and was related to untreated controls. To evaluate the role of gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptors, untreated cells were preincubated with the receptor antagonists gabazine or picrotoxin and were subsequently exposed to 8 Vol.% sevoflurane and the receptor antagonist. Cell viability was assessed and compared with that of sevoflurane-treated controls.
Results:
Up to 6 (8 Vol.%) and 12 h (4 Vol.%) of exposure to sevoflurane, cell viability was equal when compared with untreated controls. Only longer exposure times led to significantly lowered cell viability. After 12 h of exposure, no significant differences in cell viability were found between these two series. Cell viability of cultures treated with sevoflurane and the receptor antagonists showed no significant differences when compared with sevoflurane-exposed controls.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that sevoflurane does not cause neurodegeneration in primary cortical neurons of the rat following clinically relevant exposure times and concentrations.
