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Published on: June 11, 2017
Effect of Isoflurane Exposure with Administration of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Cognition in Developing Rats
Didem Aldemir Şensoy1, Serdar Demirgan1, Onat Akyol1
1Department of Anaesthesiology and Reanimation, Health Ministry, Health Sciences University, Bağcılar Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
Insights
This study found that isoflurane anesthesia did not impair cognitive function in young rats. A single dose of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) also showed no effect on cognition or neuronal survival.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Anesthesiology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- The developing brain is susceptible to anesthetic neurotoxicity.
- Investigating the impact of anesthetics like isoflurane on cognitive development is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the effects of isoflurane anesthesia on cognitive function in developing rats.
- To evaluate the potential neuroprotective role of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) against isoflurane-induced neurotoxicity.
Main Methods:
- Young rats (postnatal day 10) were exposed to isoflurane or oxygen.
- Some rats received intraperitoneal (IP) PUFAs emulsion before anesthesia.
- Cognitive function was assessed using the Morris Water Maze (MWM) test.
- Brain histology and Bcl-2 immunoreactivity were examined.
Main Results:
- All rats demonstrated learning during the MWM acquisition phase.
- Isoflurane exposure did not lead to significant cognitive deficits compared to controls.
- No significant differences were observed in probe trials, brain histology, or Bcl-2 expression among groups.
Conclusions:
- A single exposure to isoflurane did not induce cognitive dysfunction or neuronal death in developing rats.
- Administration of PUFAs emulsion did not alter cognitive outcomes or neuronal survival in this model.
Objective:
The developing brain is vulnerable to the negative effects of anaesthetics. We aimed to investigate the effect of isoflurane and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on cognition.
Methods:
A total of 64, ten days old rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: group O2 (oxygen group), group Iso (isoflurane group), group Iso-S (isoflurane+saline) and group Iso-PUFAs (isoflurane+intraperitoneal [IP] PUFAs emulsion). Rats in groups Iso, Iso-S and Iso-PUFAs were exposed to 1.5% isoflurane in 50% oxygen for 6 hours. Rats in group O2 breathed only 50% oxygen. Before anaesthesia, rats in group Iso-S were administered 0.5 mL isotonic and rats in group Iso-PUFAs were administered 5 mL kg-1 PUFAs emulsion by IP injection. The Morris water maze (MWM) test was performed on postnatal 28-33 days. Histological evaluation and immune histochemical staining (Bcl-2 antibody) were performed on postnatal day 11 on rat brains.
Results:
As demonstrated by the reduction in the escape latency on days 3, 4 and 5 compared with day 1, all rats learned the task during the acquisition period. In contrast to others, rats in group Iso spent significantly lower time to find the platform on day 2 than on day 1 (p=0.034). No significant difference was found among the groups in terms of time spent in finding the platform. There were no significant differences in probe trials, histological features and Bcl-2 immunoreactivity among the groups.
Conclusion:
Isoflurane did not cause cognitive dysfunction and neuronal death, and a single dose of PUFAs emulsion had no effect on cognition either.
