The gender difference in effect of isoflurane inhalation on long-term cognitive function in rats / 中华麻醉学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the difference in the effect of isoflurane inhalation on long-term cognitive function between male and female rate.Methods Forty-two SD rats (22 female, 20 male) that exhibited normal spontaneous activity and behaved normally in passive avoidance and Morris water maze tests were used in this study. They were divided into 2 sex groups:group female (group F) and group male (group M). Each group was further divided into 2 subgroups: control subgroup (Fc, Mc groups) and isoflurane group (Fs, Ms groups). The animals were anesthetized with 3 % isoflurane in O2 for 2 h in the 2 study subgroups, while the control subgroups inhaled O2 for 2 h. The spontaneous activity test was performed at 1, 30, 60 and 90 d, while the passive avoidance task was performed at 2, 30, 60 and 90 d after isoflurane anesthesia. Morris water maze test was performed for 5 consecutive days at 3-7 d, 31-35 d, 61-65 d, and 91-95 d after isoflurane anesthesia.Results In spontaneous activity test the total distance and the speed were significantly decreased at 1 d after isoflurane anesthesia in both Fs and Ms subgroups as compared with Fc and Mc subgroups. There was no significant difference in the number of error and latency after isoflurane anesthesia compared with the control subgroups in both male and female rats in the passive avoidance task. In Morris water maze test the escape latency and swimming distance were significantly prolonged at 1 and 31 d after isoflurane anesthesia as compared with control subgroup in female rats and at 3-6d, 31-34 d and 61 d after isoflurane anesthesia as compared with control subgroup in male rats, and were significantly longer after isoflurane anesthesia in male than in female rats. Conclusion Two hour 3.0% isoflurane anesthesia can impair long-term cognitive function and the impairment is greater in male than in female rats.