Li Mengyuan, Zhang Ruijiao, Wu Shiyin, Cheng Liqin, Fu Huan, Qu Liangchao
Medical Center of Anesthesiology and Pain, The First Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330000, P.R. China.
Department of Anesthesia and Surgery, People's Hospital of Ganjiang New District, Nanchang, Jiangxi 341099, P.R. China.
Exp Ther Med. 2024 Aug 13;28(4):399. doi: 10.3892/etm.2024.12688. eCollection 2024 Oct.
Anxiety after surgery can be a major factor leading to postoperative cognitive dysfunction, particularly in elderly patients. The role of inhibitory neurons in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in anxiety-like behaviors in aged mice following isoflurane anesthesia remains unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the role of inhibitory neurons in isoflurane-treated mice. A total of 30 C57BL/6 mice (age, 13 months) were allocated into the control and isoflurane anesthesia groups (15 mice/group) and were then subjected to several neurological assessments. Behavioral testing using an elevated plus maze test showed that aged mice in the isoflurane anesthesia group displayed significant anxiety-like behavior, since they spent more time in the closed arm, exhibited more wall climbing behavior and covered more distance. In addition, whole-cell patch-clamp recording revealed that the excitability of the BLA excitatory neurons was notably increased following mice anesthesia with isoflurane, while that of inhibitory neurons was markedly reduced. Following mice treatment with diazepam, the excitability of the BLA inhibitory neurons was notably increased compared with that of the excitatory neurons, which was significantly attenuated. Overall, the results of the current study indicated that anxiety-like behavior could occur in aged mice after isoflurane anesthesia, which could be caused by a reduced excitability of the inhibitory neurons in the BLA area. This process could enhance excitatory neuronal activity in aged mice, thus ultimately promoting the onset of anxiety-like behaviors.
术后焦虑可能是导致术后认知功能障碍的一个主要因素，尤其是在老年患者中。基底外侧杏仁核（BLA）中的抑制性神经元在异氟烷麻醉后的老年小鼠焦虑样行为中的作用尚不清楚。因此，本研究旨在探讨抑制性神经元在异氟烷处理小鼠中的作用。总共30只C57BL/6小鼠（年龄13个月）被分为对照组和异氟烷麻醉组（每组15只小鼠），然后进行多项神经学评估。使用高架十字迷宫试验进行的行为测试表明，异氟烷麻醉组的老年小鼠表现出明显的焦虑样行为，因为它们在封闭臂中停留的时间更长，表现出更多的攀爬行为，并且移动的距离更远。此外，全细胞膜片钳记录显示，异氟烷麻醉后小鼠BLA兴奋性神经元的兴奋性显著增加，而抑制性神经元的兴奋性则明显降低。在用地西泮治疗小鼠后，BLA抑制性神经元的兴奋性与兴奋性神经元相比显著增加，这一现象明显减弱。总体而言，本研究结果表明，异氟烷麻醉后老年小鼠可能会出现焦虑样行为，这可能是由BLA区域抑制性神经元兴奋性降低引起的。这一过程可能会增强老年小鼠兴奋性神经元的活动，从而最终促进焦虑样行为的发生。
