Effects of short-term exposure to sevoflurane on cognitive function development and hippocampal caspase-3 activation in neonatal rats

AIM To investigate the effects of short-term exposure to sevoflurane on cognitive function development and hippocampal caspase-3 activation in neonatal rats.METHODS Sixty-four 7-day-old neonatal Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups(16 rats in each group).Rats in the group A,B, C and D were respectively inhaled with 40%oxygen,1.0%,2.0%and 4.0%sevoflurane for 1 hour.Eight rats in each group were randomly subjected to hidden platform trails and probe trails in Morris water maze to access cognitive function at age of 7 weeks after anesthetic exposure to sevoflurane.Twenty-four hours after completion of sevoflurane exposure,the neurodegeneration and the activation of caspase-3 in hippocampus were analyzed by flow cytometry.RESULTS Latencies and probe times of group B,C and D were significantly longer than those of group A,which raising with the increasing concentrations of sevoflurane exposure(P0.01).The ratios of neurodegeneration in hippocampus of group B,C and D were(31.0±2.7)%,(52.8±4.9)%,(71.4±3.2)%, and were significantly higher than those of group A.The ratios of neurodegeneration were in accordance with the increasing concentrations of sevoflurane(P0.01).CONCLUSION Short-term exposure to sevoflurane may interfere the development of cognitive function and induce hippocampal neurodegeneration in neonatal rats.