Effect of propofol in the immature rat brain on short- and long-term neurodevelopmental outcome.

Effect of propofol in the immature rat brain on short- and long-term neurodevelopmental outcome.

Blog Article

BACKGROUND: Propofol is commonly used as sedative in newborns and children.Recent experimental studies led to contradictory results, revealing neurodegenerative or neuroprotective properties of propofol on the developing brain.We investigated neurodevelopmental short- and long-term effects of neonatal propofol treatment.METHODS: 6-day-old Wistar rats (P6), randomised in two groups, received repeated intraperitoneal injections (0, 90, 180 min) of 30 mg/kg propofol or normal saline and sacrificed 6, 12 and 24 hrs following the first injection.

Cortical and thalamic areas were analysed by Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) for Hog Ring Pliers expression of apoptotic and neurotrophin-dependent signalling pathways.Long-term effects were assessed by Open-field and Novel-Object-Recognition at P30 and P120.RESULTS: Western blot analyses revealed a transient increase of activated caspase-3 in cortical, MEMORY BOOST and a reduction of active mitogen-activated protein kinases (ERK1/2, AKT) in cortical and thalamic areas.qRT-PCR analyses showed a down-regulation of neurotrophic factors (BDNF, NGF, NT-3) in cortical and thalamic regions.

Minor impairment in locomotive activity was observed in propofol treated adolescent animals at P30.Memory or anxiety were not impaired at any time point.CONCLUSION: Exposing the neonatal rat brain to propofol induces acute neurotrophic imbalance and neuroapoptosis in a region- and time-specific manner and minor behavioural changes in adolescent animals.