Anesthetics influence concussive head injury induced blood-brain barrier breakdown, brain edema formation, cerebral blood flow, serotonin levels, brain pathology and functional outcome

Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019Source: International Review of NeurobiologyAuthor(s): Hari S. Sharma, Dafin F. Muresanu, Ala Nozari, Rudy J. Castellani, Prasanta K. Dey, Lars Wiklund, Aruna SharmaAbstractSeveral lines of evidences show that anesthetics influence neurotoxicity and neuroprotection. The possibility that different anesthetic agents potentially influence the pathophysiological and functional outcome following neurotrauma was examined in a rat model of concussive head injury (CHI). The CHI was produced by an impact of 0.224 N on the right parietal bone by dropping a weight of 114.6 g from a 20 cm height under different anesthetic agents, e.g., inhaled ether anesthesia or intraperitoneally administered ketamine, pentobarbital, equithesin or urethane anesthesia. Five hour CHI resulted in profound volume swelling and brain edema formation in both hemispheres showing disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to Evans blue and radioiodine. A marked decrease in the cortical CBF and a profound increase in plasma or brain serotonin levels were seen at this time. Neuronal damages were present in several parts of the brain. These pathological changes were most marked in CHI under ether anesthesia followed by ketamine (35 mg/kg, i.p.), pentobarbital (50 mg/kg, i.p.), equithesin (3 mL/kg, i.p.) and urethane (1 g/kg, i.p.). The functional outcome on Rota Rod performances or grid walking tests was also most adversely affected a...
Source: International Review of Neurobiology - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research