The effect of sevoflurane on developing brain and its relationship with cytosolic calcium concentration

Abstract

Objective To explore if sevoflurane could induce neuronal apoptosis and its relationship with intracellular calcium.Methods In this study,48 fasted male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into three groups.Group Sa,rats were administered with air.Group Sc,rats were administered with 100％ oxygen.Group S4,rats were administered with 3％ sevoflurane for 4,12 h after administration with air,oxygen or sevoflurane,all rats were killed and the hippocampus were collected for study.Cell morphology of hippocampal neuron was observed with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining.The percentage of apoptotic cells was measured by flow cytometry and intracellular calcium concentration was measured with laser scanning confocal microscope.Results The percentage of apoptotic neuron in hippocampus in group S4 (84.8±7.5) was higher than that in group Sa (1.8±1.0) and group Sc (2.2±1.0)(P＜0.05).Intracellular free calcium concentration and fluorescence intensity was higher in group S4 [(297±21),(373±70)] than in group Sa[(83±13),(113±57)] and group Sc [(88±18),(120±50)] (P＜0.05).Conclusions Sevoflurane could induce hippocampal neuron apoptosis with a potential mechanism of increasing intracellular calcium. Key words: Sevoflurane; The developing brain; Flow cytometer; Intracellular calcium; Laser scanning confocal microscope