Effects of sevoflurane on the function of learning and memory in neonatal rats

Objective To investigate the effects of sevoflurane inhalation anesthesia on learning and memory function in neonatal rats.Methods Eighty 1 week old SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups with 16 rats each group:A,B groups of inhaled 3％ sevoflurane 6 h and 2 h; C,D group inhaled 1.5％ sevoflurane 6 h and 2 h; group E inhaled air as control.Learning and memory function was assessed using Y-maze test at P21-P23 ( Ⅰ stage) and P60-P62 ( Ⅱ stage) after anesthesia.The animals were killed immediately after the tests and hippocampus was isolated and expression using immuno-histochemical technique.Results The first day of total reaction time(TRT) and error number(EN) in group A Ⅰ stage Y-maze were (100±19) s and (9.2±1.1) times compared with control group E (P＜0.05),there was no difference in 2th-3th day,the other groups showed no difference (P＞0.05);there were no differences in Ⅱ period Y-maze test (P＞0.05).While there was no significant difference in N-methy-D-aspatrate receptor 1 (NMDAR1) expression of each group in Ⅰ and Ⅱ stage (P＞0.05).Conclusions Inhalation of 1.5％ sevoflurane does not induce learning and memory function decline in neonatal rats.Inhalation of 3.0％ sevoflurane 6 h can induce transient learning and memory functiondecline in neonatal rats,and there was no significant difference for future learning and momory. Key words: Sevoflurane ;  Hippocampus ;  Learning and memory ;  N-methy-D-aspatrate receptor ;