Effect of propofol and operative trauma on neurodevelopment and cognitive function of developing brain in rats

LI Yang; LI Weiguang; FENG Zeguo; ZHANG Chenggang; HUANG Lianjun; YANG Xiaorui; YU Yingqun

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-4254.2018.02.11

Abstract：Objective To investigate the effect of propofol and operative trauma on the neurodevelopment and cognitive function of the developing brain and its mechanism. Methods A total of 104 postnatal day 13 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups:control group (treated by 7.5 mL/kg saline and sham surgery), propofol group (treated by 75 mg/kg propofol), surgery group (with abdominal surgery under local anesthesia) and propofol+surgery group (with abdominal surgery under local anesthesia plus 75 mg/kg propofol anesthesia). Thirteen rats from each group were randomly selected for detecting the content of TNF-αin the hippocampus and the expression levels of caspase-3 and c-fos in the brain. Morris Water Maze test was used to detect the cognitive ability of the other rats at 60 days old, after which TNF-αcontent in the hippocampus and caspase-3 and c-fos expressions in the brain were detected. Results In 13 day-old rats, TNF-αlevel and caspase-3 and c-fos expressions differed significantly between the surgery group and the other 3 groups (P<0.05) and were similar among the control group, propofol group and propofol+surgery group (P>0.05). In 60-day-old rats, Morris water maze test results, TNF-α level or expressions of caspase-3 and c-fos showed no significant differences among the 4 groups. Conclusion Abdominal surgery can induce inflammation in the hippocampus and neuroapoptosis in neonatal rats rather than adult rats. Single-dose propofol anesthesia does not significantly affect neurodevelopment of young rats, and can relieve central inflammatory reaction induced by surgical trauma.