Isoflurane/nitrous oxide anesthesia and stress-induced procedures enhance neuroapoptosis in intrauterine growth-restricted piglets.
Abstract
There is compelling evidence that interference of various anesthetics with synaptic functions and stress-provoking procedures during critical periods of brain maturation results in increased neuroapoptotic cell death. The hypothesis is that adverse intrauterine environmental conditions leading to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) with altered brain development may result in enhanced susceptibility to developmental anesthetic neurotoxicity. This was a prospective, randomized, blinded animal study performed in a university laboratory involving 20 normal-weight (NW) and 19 IUGR newborn piglets. General inhalation anesthesia with isoflurane and nitrous oxide at clinically comparable dosages were administered for about 10 h. Surgical and monitoring procedures were accompanied by appropriate stage of general anesthesia. Resulting effects on developmental anesthetic and stress-induced neurotoxicity were assessed by estimation of apoptotic rates in untreated piglets and piglets after 10-h general anesthesia with MAC 1.0 isoflurane in 70 % nitrous oxide and 30 % oxygen. IUGR piglets exposed to different levels of isoflurane inhalation exhibited a significant increased apoptosis rate (TUNEL-positive neuronal cells) compared to NW an...Continue Reading
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Apoptosis
Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis