Cholinergic synaptic transmissions were altered after single sevoflurane exposure in Drosophila pupa

. Sevoflurane, one of the most used general anesthetics, is widely used in clinical practice all over the world. Previous studies indicated that sevoflurane could induce neuron apoptosis and neural deficit causing query in the safety of anesthesia using sevoflurane. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of sevoflurane on electrophysiology in Drosophila pupa whose excitatory neurotransmitter is acetylcholine early after sevoflurane exposure using whole brain recording technique.

Wide types of Drosophila (canton-s flies) were allocated to control and sevoflurane groups randomly. Sevoflurane groups (1% sevoflurane; 2% sevoflurane; 3% sevoflurane) were exposed to sevoflurane and the exposure lasted 5 hours, respectively. All flies were subjected to electrophysiology experiment using patch clamp 24 hours after exposure.

The results showed that, 24 hours after sevoflurane exposure, frequency but not the amplitude of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) was significantly reduced (P < 0.05). Furthermore, we explored the underlying mechanism and found that calcium currents density, which partially regulated the frequency of mEPSCs, was significantly reduced after sevoflurane exposure (P < 0.05).

All these suggested that sevoflurane could alter the mEPSCs that are related to synaptic plasticity partially through modulating calcium channel early after sevoflurane exposure.