ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the effect of isoflurane on the expression of phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (p-GSK-3β) and β-catenin in neural stem cells (NSCs) in the hippocampus of developing rats.Methods Twenty-four 7-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats,weighing 15-20 g,were divided into 2 groups (n =12 each) using a random number table:control group (group C) and 2％ isoflurane group (group Ⅰ).Group C inhaled 30％ oxygen for 4 h.Group Ⅰ inhaled 2％ isoflurane in 30％ oxygen for 4 h.Six rats were randomly selected from each group,and 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) 200 mg/kg was intraperitoneally injected immediately before anesthesia to assess the proliferation of NSCs in the hippocampal dentate gyrus.The rats were sacrificed at 6 h after the end of anesthesia,and hippocampi were isolated for determination of the number of BrdU positive cells in the dentate gyrus (by immunohistochemistry) and expression of p-GSK-3β and β-catenin in hippocampal tissues (by Western blot analysis).Results Compared with group C,the number of BrdU positive cells was significantly decreased,and the expression of p-GSK-3β and β-catenin was down-regulated in group Ⅰ (P＜0.05).Conclusion Isoflurane can inhibit the proliferation of NSCs in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of developing rats,and the mechanism may be related to down-regulation of the expression of p-GSK-3β and β-catenin.