Propofol facilitates excitatory inputs of cerebellar Purkinje cells by depressing molecular layer interneuron activity during sensory information processing in vivo in mice.

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Propofol is a rapid-acting sedative-hypnotic medication that has been widely used for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia; it has specific actions on different areas of the brain, such as sensory information transmission in the somatosensory cortex. However, the effects of propofol on the properties of sensory stimulation-evoked responses in cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs) are currently unclear. In the present study, we studied the effects of propofol on facial stimulation-evoked responses in cerebellar PCs and molecular level interneurons (MLIs) in urethane-anesthetized mice using electrophysiological and pharmacological methods. Our results showed that cerebellar surface perfusion with propofol induced a decrease in the amplitude of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic component (P1) in a dose-dependent manner, but induced a significant increase in the amplitude of the excitatory response (N1). The IC50 of propofol-induced inhibition of P1 was 217.3 μM. In contrast, propofol (100 μM) depressed the spontaneous activity and tactile-evoked responses in MLIs. In addition, blocking GABA(A) receptor activity abolished the propofol (300 μM)-induced inhibition of the tactile-evoked inhibitory response and the increase in the sensory stimulation-evoked spike firing rate of PCs. These results indicated that propofol depressed the tactile stimulation-evoked spike firing of MLIs, resulting in a decrease in the amplitude of the tactile-evoked inhibitory response and an increase in the amplitude of the excitatory response in the cerebellar PCs of mice. Our results suggest that propofol modulates sensory information processing in cerebellar cortical PCs and MLIs through the activation of GABA(A) receptors.