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Effects of repeated anaesthesia on central cholinergic function in the rat cerebral cortex

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2005

C. D. Hanning ,
A. Blokland ,
M. Johnson  and
E. K. Perry
C. D. Hanning
Affiliation:
Leicester General Hospital, Department of Anaesthesia, Leicester, UK
A. Blokland
Affiliation:
Maastricht Brain & Behavior Institute, Faculty of Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
M. Johnson
Affiliation:
Centre for Development in Clinical Brain Ageing, MRC Building, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
E. K. Perry
Affiliation:
Centre for Development in Clinical Brain Ageing, MRC Building, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Abstract

Summary

Background and objective: General anaesthesia may contribute to postoperative cognitive decline in the elderly. The aim was to determine the effects of repeated pentobarbital anaesthesia throughout life on central cholinergic function in the rat.

Methods: Young Lewis rats were randomly allocated to two groups. The anaesthesia group (n = 15) was anaesthetized with pentobarbital 20 mg kg−1 intraperitoneally at 6, 8.5, 11, 13.5, 16, 18.5, 21 and 23.5 months of age. The control group (n = 12) was treated identically, apart from the anaesthesia. At 26 months of age, the animals were killed and the brain dissected and stored for analysis. Central cholinergic function in the cortex and hippocampus was assessed by measuring [3H]-epibatidine and [125I]α-bungarotoxin binding to nicotinic receptors and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity.

Results: Tissue from nine rats in the anaesthesia group and eight in the control group was available for analysis. There was a significant reduction in α-bungarotoxin binding in the anaesthetized compared with the control group in the superior cortex (P < 0.0002) and molecular cortex (P < 0.04). There were no significant differences between the groups for epibatidine binding or ChAT.

Conclusions: Repeated anaesthesia in rat reduces central nicotinic cholinergic binding in the cortex. The findings may have implications for postoperative cognitive function studies.

Keywords

ANAESTHETICS, GENERALMEMORY DISORDERSRECEPTORS, NEUROTRANSMITTER, receptors, cholinergic, nicotinic
Type
Original Article
Information
European Journal of Anaesthesiology , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , February 2003 , pp. 93 - 97
Copyright
2003 European Society of Anaesthesiology

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