Propofol inhibits the expression of Abelson nonreceptor tyrosine kinase without affecting learning or memory function in neonatal rats

摘要

Objective Propofol is one of the most commonly used intravenous drugs?to induce?and?maintain?general anesthesia. In vivo and?in?vitro studies?have shown that propofol?can affect?neuronal?growth, leading?to apoptosis?and?impairing cognitive function.?The?Abelson nonreceptor tyrosine kinase (c‐Abl)?is?associated with both neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease?and other neurodegenerative?diseases.?This study aimed to explore the effect of propofol on apoptosis and neurocognition through its regulation of c‐Abl expression in vivo and in vitro. Materials and Methods In this study, primary hippocampal neurons?were cultured and exposed to?propofol at different concentrations.?Protein?expression?was?measured by?Western blotting and coimmunoprecipitation.?The c‐Abl?transcription level was verified by?fluorescence quantitative PCR.?Reactive oxygen species?(ROS) levels were detected by flow cytometry.?In addition, an animal experiment was conducted to assess neuronal?apoptosis?by immunofluorescence staining?for caspase‐3 and to evaluate behavioral changes by the?Morris water maze?(MWM) test. Results The in vitro experiment showed that propofol?significantly?decreased?c‐Abl?expression?and ROS levels.?In addition, propofol has no cytotoxic effect and does not affect cell activity.?Moreover,?in the animal experiment, intraperitoneal?injection of 50?mg/kg?propofol?for?5?days?obviously decreased?the expression of?c‐Abl in the neonatal rat brain?(p??.05) but did not significantly increase the number of?caspase‐3‐positive cells.?Propofol?treatment?did not?significantly reduce the number of?platform crossings (p??.05) or?prolong the escape latency?of neonatal rats (p??.05) in the MWM test. Conclusions The present data suggest that?reduced expression of this nonreceptor tyrosine kinase through consecutive daily?administration of?propofol did not impair learning or memory function in neonatal rats.