Dopamine transporter in the ventral tegmental area modulates recovery from propofol anesthesia in rats

To investigate the role of the dopamine transporter (DAT) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the recovery from propofol anesthesia in rats.

A total of 150 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly split into a normal control group (NC), saline group (S), propofol anesthesia group (P), adeno-associated viral-NC-mCherry (AAV-NC) group, and AAV-DAT-RNAi (DAT-RNAi) group (n = 30 per group). In rats in the AAV intervention group, AAV was injected into the VTA nucleus via a stereotaxer. The rats in each group were continuously pumped with propofol through the tail vein at a dose of 70 mg/kg/h, and the control group was infused with the same dose of saline at the same speed for 30 min. Immunofluorescence staining was used to observe the expression of c-fos protein in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The induction and recovery time of propofol anesthesia were recorded based on the time of disappearance of the righting reflex (LORR) and recovery (RORR). The anesthesia depth score was performed on all rats 10 min after starting the administration and 10 min after withdrawal, which represented the depth of anesthesia during anesthesia and the degree of recovery during anesthesia recovery, respectively. electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded during propofol anesthesia and recovery.

Compared to the NC group, the RORR of the DAT-RNAi group was shortened, and the anesthesia depth score was higher (P < 0.05). In the DAT-RNAi group, during the period of propofol anesthesia, the β wave frequencies increased, the θ wave frequencies decreased, and the expression of c-fos protein in PFC increased and during the recovery from propofol anesthesia, the α wave and β wave frequencies were increased (P < 0.05).

Knockdown of the DAT in the VTA region can enhance the activity of PFC neurons and promote the recovery of rats from propofol anesthesia.