Effect of sevoflurane anesthesia on cognitive impairment in rats with traumatic brain injury / 中华麻醉学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the effect of sevoflurane anesthesia on cognitive impairment in rats with traumatic brain injury. Methods One hundred and and twenty healthy male Wistar rats, aged 2-3 months, weighing 190-220 g, were assigned into 4 groups ( n=30 each) using a random number table method: control group ( group C) , traumatic brain injury group ( group T) , sevoflurane anesthesia group ( group S) , and traumatic brain injury plus sevoflurane anesthesia group ( group T+S) . A 40 g hammer was freely dropped onto the left parietal bone window from a height of 20 cm to establish the traumatic brain inju-ry model in T and T+S groups. Twelve days later, S and T+S groups inhaled 3％ sevoflurane for 3 h, and C and T groups inhaled pure oxygen for 3 h. On 1 day before anesthesia and 3 and 7 days after anesthesia, 10 rats in each group were randomly selected for performing Morris water maze test. Rats were sacrificed af-ter the end of Morris water maze test, and the hippocampal tissues were obtained for determination of the apoptosis rate of hippocampal neurons, cytoplasmic calcium concentration [Ca2+]i (by flow cytometry), expression of glucose-regulated protein 78 ( GRP78) and CCAAT∕enhancer-binding protein homologous pro-tein ( CHOP ) ( by immunohistochemistry ) , and expression of caspase-3 and caspase-12 ( by Western blot) . Results Compared with group C, the escape latency was significantly prolonged, the number of crossing platform was decreased, the apoptosis rate of hippocampal neurons and [ Ca2+] i were increased, and the expression of caspase-3, caspase-12, GRP78 and CHOP in hippocampal tissues was up-regulated in S, T and T+S groups ( P<0. 05) . Compared with T and S groups, the escape latency was significantly prolonged, the number of crossing platform was decreased, the apoptosis rate of hippocampal neurons and [ Ca2+] i were increased, and the expression of caspase-3, caspase-12, GRP78 and CHOP in hippocampal tissues was up-regulated in group T+S ( P<0. 05 ) . Conclusion Sevoflurane anesthesia can accentuate cognitive impairment in rats with traumatic brain injury, and the mechanism may be related to aggravating the degree of endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced calcium overload and increasing the apoptosis rate of hip-pocampal neurons.