Abstract:
Objective To analyze the effects of different concentrations and different types of inhaled anesthetics on the expression of c-Fos in mouse brain nuclei, and to explore the possible role of nuclear activation (or inhibition) in the loss of consciousness induced by inhaled anesthetics.
Methods A total of 30 male adult C57BL/6 mice, aged 8 weeks and weighing 22-23 g were selected. Mice were randomly divided into 5 groups: control group (group C, inhaled 100% pure oxygen), inhaled 0.8% isoflurane group (group IL), inhaled 1.4% isoflurane group (group IH), inhaled 1.3% sevoflurane group (group SL) and inhaled 2.5% sevoflurane group (group SH), 6 mice in each group. All mice were transcardially perfused immediately after the gas exposure for 2 hours. Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the c-Fos expression in the whole brain of mice. C-fos and arginine vasopressin (AVP) or c-Fos and oxytocin (OXT) immunofluorescence staining were used to detect the expression of AVP and OXT in supraoptic nucleus (SON).
Results There were significant difference between 5 groups in c-Fos expression in SON, central amygdala (CeA), bed nucleus of striatum (BNST), anterodorsal preoptic nucleus (ADP), lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), cingulate cortex (Cg) and secondary motor cortex (M2). Compared with group C, the c-Fos positive cells in SON, CeA and BNST of group IL, group IH, group SL and group SH were significantly increased (P < 0.05), while c-Fos positive cells in ADP and LHA were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), c-Fos positive cells in Cg of group IH and group SH were significantly decreased (P < 0.05) and c-Fos positive cells in M2 of group IH were significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Compared with group IL and group SL, c-Fos positive cells in SON of group IH and group SH were significantly increased (P < 0.05). Compared with group C, the activation percentage of AVP neurons in SON brain region of group IL, group IH, group SL and group SH was significantly increased (P < 0.000 1).
Conclusions Inhaling different concentrations of isoflurane or sevoflurane can increase the number of c-Fos positive cells in SON, CeA and BNST, and reduce the number of c-Fos positive cells in ADP, LHA, Cg and M2 in mouse brain. The activation of AVP neurons in SON may be involved in the mechanism of loss of consciousness induced by isoflurane or sevoflurane.