Objective: To investigate the effect of propofol upon acute cerebral insult during whole-body hyperthermia (WBH) in rats.
Methods: Sixty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups. All the animals were trained with place navigation test of Morris water maze (MWM) for 5 days pre-study. After training, some rats received anesthesia only but not WBH treatment as control, other rats were anesthetized with intraperitoneal injection of 3.0 ml/kg of chloral hydrate and 100 or 150 mg/kg of propofol followed with WBH process (keeping rat core temperature at 42 degrees C for 30 min). Space memory was checked using spatial probe test 24 h after WBH intervention. Rat brain was then removed in 24 h post-WBH to separate hippocampal regions for the detection of neuronal apoptosis with TUNEL method and ultramicrostructural changes by electron microscope.
Results: The escape latency were smaller in groups B0, C0, D0, C and D than that in group B (P < 0.05) while smaller in groups B0, C0, D0 than in groups B, C, D respectively. The amount of apoptotic neurons in hippocampus increased orderly as following with no significant differences in group B0, C0 and D0: group B0, C0, D0 < group D < group C < group B (P < 0.05). The injury degree of neuronal ultramicrostructure in hippocampus in group C after WBH were more severe than that in group D but better than that in group B.
Conclusion: Propofol alleviates the WBH-induced acute cerebral insult by inhibiting the hippocampal neural apoptosis.