Prenatal sevoflurane exposure causes neuronal excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in the prefrontal cortex and neurofunctional abnormality in rats.

Prenatal sevoflurane exposure causes neuronal excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in the prefrontal cortex and neurofunctional abnormality in rats. Neurobiol Dis. 2020 Sep 29;:105121 Authors: Zhao T, Chen Y, Sun Z, Shi Z, Qin J, Lu J, Li C, Ma D, Zhou L, Song X Abstract The balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the central nervous system is critical for maintaining brain function and sevoflurane, a general anesthetic and an GABA receptor modulator, may change the balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the cortex during early brain development. Herein, we investigated whether prenatal sevoflurane exposure (PSE) disturbs cortical neuronal development and brain function. Pregnant rats at the gestational day 14.5 were subjected to sevoflurane exposure at 3.0% for 3 h and their offspring were studied thereafter. We found a significant increase of parvalbumin-positive neurons, vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT) and GAD67 expression, and GABA neurotransmitter, and a significant decrease of vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1) expression and glutamate in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of offspring. Pyramidal neurons showed atrophy with shorter dendrites, less branches and lower spine density visualized by Golgi stain and a decrease of excitability with the increased miniature inhibitory postsynaptic current (mIPSC) frequency and amplitude, the decreased miniature excitatory postsynaptic current (mEPSC) frequency an...
Source: Neurobiology of Disease - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Neurobiol Dis Source Type: research