Visual Cognition Laboratory, Department of Medicine, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 5, Fribourg, CH-1700, Switzerland.
J Proteomics. 2013 Mar 27;80:311-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2012.11.002. Epub 2012 Dec 8.
Neuropeptides are critical signaling molecules, involved in the regulation of diverse physiological processes including energy metabolism, pain perception and brain cognitive state. Prolonged general anesthesia has an impact on many of these processes, but the regulation of peptides by general anesthetics is poorly understood. In this study, we present an in-depth characterization of the hypothalamic neuropeptides of the tree shrew during volatile isoflurane/nitrous oxide anesthesia administered accompanying a neurosurgical procedure. Using a predicted-peptide database and hybrid spectral analysis, we first identified 85 peptides from the tree shrew hypothalamus. Differential analysis was then performed between control and experimental group animals. The levels of 12 hypothalamic peptides were up-regulated following prolonged general anesthesia. Our study revealed for the first time that several neuropeptides, including alpha-neoendorphin and somatostatin-14, were altered during general anesthesia. Our study broadens the scope for the involvement of neuropeptides in volatile anesthesia regulation, opening the possibility for investigating the associated regulatory mechanisms.
神经肽是关键的信号分子，参与调节多种生理过程，包括能量代谢、疼痛感知和大脑认知状态。长时间的全身麻醉会对其中的许多过程产生影响，但全身麻醉对肽的调节作用还知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们对树鼩在伴随神经外科手术的挥发性异氟烷/氧化亚氮麻醉期间的下丘脑神经肽进行了深入的特征描述。使用预测肽数据库和混合光谱分析，我们首先从树鼩的下丘脑鉴定出 85 种肽。然后对对照组和实验组动物进行了差异分析。在长时间的全身麻醉后，12 种下丘脑肽的水平上调。我们的研究首次揭示，在全身麻醉期间，包括α-新内啡肽和生长抑素-14 在内的几种神经肽发生了改变。我们的研究拓宽了神经肽参与挥发性麻醉调节的范围，为研究相关的调节机制提供了可能。
