Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou City, 510120, People's Republic of China.
The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, 510120, People's Republic of China.
BMC Anesthesiol. 2023 Jun 20;23(1):213. doi: 10.1186/s12871-023-02166-1.
General anesthesia results in a state of unconsciousness that is similar to sleep. In recent years, increasing evidence has reported that astrocytes play a crucial role in regulating sleep. However, whether astrocytes are involved in general anesthesia is unknown.
In the present study, the designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) approach was utilized to specifically activate astrocytes in the basal forebrain (BF) and observed its effect on isoflurane anesthesia. One the other side, L-α-aminoadipic acid was used to selectively inhibit astrocytes in the BF and investigated its influence on isoflurane-induced hypnotic effect. During the anesthesia experiment, cortical electroencephalography (EEG) signals were recorded as well.
The chemogenetic activation group had a significantly shorter isoflurane induction time, longer recovery time, and higher delta power of EEG during anesthesia maintenance and recovery periods than the control group. Inhibition of astrocytes in the BF delayed isoflurane-induced loss of consciousness, promoted recovery, decreased delta power and increased beta and gamma power during maintenance and recovery periods.
The present study suggests that astrocytes in the BF region are involved in isoflurane anesthesia and may be a potential target for regulating the consciousness state of anesthesia.
全身麻醉会导致一种类似于睡眠的无意识状态。近年来，越来越多的证据表明星形胶质细胞在调节睡眠中起着至关重要的作用。然而，星形胶质细胞是否参与全身麻醉尚不清楚。
在本研究中，采用 Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs（DREADDs）方法特异性激活基底前脑（BF）中的星形胶质细胞，并观察其对异氟烷麻醉的影响。另一方面，使用 L-α-氨基己二酸选择性抑制 BF 中的星形胶质细胞，并研究其对异氟烷诱导催眠作用的影响。在麻醉实验过程中，记录皮质脑电图（EEG）信号。
与对照组相比，化学遗传激活组的异氟烷诱导时间更短，麻醉维持和恢复期间的恢复时间更长，脑电图的 delta 功率更高。BF 区星形胶质细胞的抑制延迟了异氟烷诱导的意识丧失，促进了恢复，降低了 delta 功率，增加了维持和恢复期间的 beta 和 gamma 功率。
本研究表明，BF 区域的星形胶质细胞参与异氟烷麻醉，可能是调节麻醉意识状态的潜在靶点。
