Sevoflurane is a widely used inhalational anesthetic in pediatric medicine that has been reported to have deleterious effects on the developing brain. Strategies to mitigate these detrimental effects are lacking. Sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) is a member of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent protein deacetylases involved in a wide range of pathophysiological processes. SIRT2 inhibition has emerged as a promising treatment for an array of neurological disorders. However, the direct effects of SIRT2 on anesthesia-induced damage to the immature brain are unclear. Neonatal rats were exposed to 3% sevoflurane or 30% oxygen for 2 h daily with or without SIRT2 inhibitor AK7 pretreatment from postnatal day 7 (P7) to P9. One cohort of rats were euthanized 6, 12, and/or 24 h after the last gas exposure, and brain tissues were harvested for biochemical analysis and/or immunohistochemical examination. Cognitive functions were evaluated using the open field and Morris water maze tests on P25 and P28-32, respectively. SIRT2 was significantly up-regulated in neonatal rat hippocampus at 6 and 12 h post-anesthesia. Pretreatment with SIRT2 inhibitor AK7 reversed sevoflurane-induced hippocampus-dependent cognitive impairments. Furthermore, AK7 administration mitigated sevoflurane-induced neuroinflammation and microglial activation. Concomitantly, AK7 inhibited pro-inflammatory/M1-related markers and increased anti-inflammatory/M2-related markers in microglia. AK7 might prevent sevoflurane-induced neuroinflammation by switching microglia from the M1 to M2 phenotype. Downregulation of SIRT2 may be a novel therapeutic target for alleviating anesthesia-induced developmental neurotoxicity.
Keywords: Hippocampus; Learning and memory deficits; Microglia; Neuroinflammation; SIRT2.