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Lithium Protects Against Anaesthesia Neurotoxicity In The Infant Primate Brain
Kevin K Noguchi1, Stephen A Johnson1, Lauren E Kristich1
1Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, US.
Insights
Lithium protects infant non-human primates from anesthesia-induced brain cell death. This finding suggests a potential strategy to prevent long-term neurodevelopmental impairment in infants exposed to anesthesia.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Anesthetic drug exposure in infant animals and humans is linked to neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI).
- Millions of infants undergo anesthesia annually, raising concerns about potential long-term cognitive deficits.
- Lithium (Li) demonstrates neuroprotective effects in various brain injury models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neuroprotective potential of lithium against anesthesia-induced neurotoxicity in infant non-human primates (NHPs).
- To determine if lithium can prevent apoptosis of neurons and oligodendrocytes caused by isoflurane anesthesia.
Main Methods:
- Infant NHPs were administered isoflurane (ISO) anesthesia for 5 hours on postnatal day 6.
- Co-administration of clinically relevant doses of lithium (Li) was given alongside isoflurane.
- Apoptosis of neurons and oligodendrocytes was assessed post-anesthesia.
Main Results:
- Lithium completely prevented acute isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis in infant NHPs.
- Lithium significantly reduced isoflurane-induced apoptosis of oligodendrocytes.
- These results indicate a neuroprotective effect of lithium against anesthetic neurotoxicity.
Conclusions:
- Lithium shows promise as a neuroprotective agent against anesthetic-induced brain injury in developing primates.
- Pharmacological manipulation with lithium may safeguard the developing brain from anesthetic neurotoxicity without compromising anesthetic efficacy.
- Further research is warranted to confirm lithium's efficacy in preventing long-term NDI and assess its safety in human infants.
Abstract:
Exposure of infant animals, including non-human primates (NHPs), to anaesthetic drugs causes apoptotic death of neurons and oligodendrocytes (oligos) and results in long-term neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI). Moreover, retrospective clinical studies document an association between anaesthesia exposure of human infants and significant increase in NDI. These findings pose a potentially serious dilemma because millions of human infants are exposed to anaesthetic drugs every year as part of routine medical care. Lithium (Li) at clinically established doses is neuroprotective in various cerebral injury models. We therefore investigated whether Li also protects against anaesthesia neurotoxicity in infant NHPs. On postnatal day 6 NHPs were anaesthetized with the widely used anaesthetic isoflurane (ISO) for 5 h employing the same standards as in a human pediatric surgery setting. Co-administration of Li completely prevented the acute ISO-induced neuroapoptosis and significantly reduced ISO-induced apoptosis of oligodendroglia. Our findings are highly encouraging as they suggest that a relatively simple pharmacological manipulation might protect the developing primate brain against the neurotoxic action of anaesthetic drugs while not interfering with the beneficial actions of these drugs. Further research is needed to determine Li's potential to prevent long-term NDI resulting from ISO anaesthesia, and to establish its safety in human infants.
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