Effects of propofol on ERK1,ERK2 phosphorylation and c-fos mRNA expression in hippocampal in rats

Objective to investigate the effects of propofol on extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1(ERK1),ERK2 phosphorylation and c-fos mRNA expression in hippocampal in rats.Methods Sixty four male SD rats weighting 250-280 g were randomly divided into 2 groups(n=32):group normal saline(Group S.) and group propofol(Group P).The animals underwent a continous multiple-trial inhibitory avoidance training.The times of trial needed for each animal to attain the learning criterion(100 s) were recorded.Each animal was given intraperitoneal propofol 9 mg/kg or normal saline 2 ml/kg at 15 min before training.The memory retention was tested at 1 h,3 h and 24 h(n=8,at each time point) after the training session and the memory latency was recorded.The animals were sacrificed 15 min after administration(T0) and after the memory testing(T1-3) and hippocampus was abtained for determination of phosphorylation ERK1(p-ERK1),p-ERK2 and c-fos mRNA expression.Results Compared with group S,the times of trial to attain the learning criterion were significantly increased,memory latency shortened at T2,3,ERK1 phosphorylation decreased at T2,3 while ERK2 phosphorylation decreased at T0-3.Conclusion Propofol can inhibit ERK1 and ERK2 phosphorylation in hippocampal in rats.