Anesthesia and tau pathology

• Published in: Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry Vol. 47; pp. 147 - 155
• Main Authors: Whittington, Robert A., Bretteville, Alexis, Dickler, Maya F., Planel, Emmanuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Inc 02.12.2013
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Anesthesia; Anesthesia - adverse effects; Humans; Kinase; Phosphatase; Tau; Tauopathies - etiology; APP; Ser; PS-1; Src; JNK; Tau; Phosphatase; Aβ; GSK-3β; 3×Tg-AD; CSF; Anesthesia; NFT; Alzheimer's disease; 4R; Thr; MWM; AD; AKT/PKB; BDNF; cdk5; Tau-SH-SY5Y cells; MT; i.p; PP2A; MAPK; MAC; NR2B; PP1; CaMKII; PP2B; Kinase; Dex; NMDA-R; GABA; 3R; ERK; serine; dexmedetomidine; extracellular signal-regulated kinase; amyloid-β precursor protein; 3-repeat tau isoforms; subunit 2B of NMDA receptor; 4-repeat tau isoforms; triple transgenic Alzheimer's disease mouse model; glycogen synthase kinase-3β; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; presenilin-1; c-Jun N-terminal kinase; calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II; amyloid-β; short for sarcoma, a non-receptor tyrosine kinase; γ-aminobutyric acid; cerebrospinal fluid; cyclin-dependent kinase 5; Morris water maze; neurofibrillary tangles; mitogen-activated protein kinase; protein phosphatase 2A; protein phosphatase 2B; protein phosphatase 1; protein kinase B; N-methyl d-aspartate receptor; microtubule; threonine; intra peritoneal; minimum alveolar concentration; human neuroblastoma cells constitutively expressing human tau with 3 microtubule-binding domains
• ISSN: 0278-5846; 1878-4216
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2013.03.004

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and remains a growing worldwide health problem. As life expectancy continues to increase, the number of AD patients presenting for surgery and anesthesia will steadily rise. The etiology of sporadic AD is thought to be multifactorial, with environmental, biological and genetic factors interacting together to influence AD pathogenesis. Recent reports suggest that general anesthetics may be such a factor and may contribute to the development and exacerbation of this neurodegenerative disorder. Intra-neuronal neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), composed of hyperphosphorylated and aggregated tau protein are one of the main neuropathological hallmarks of AD. Tau pathology is important in AD as it correlates very well with cognitive dysfunction. Lately, several studies have begun to elucidate the mechanisms by which anesthetic exposure might affect the phosphorylation, aggregation and function of this microtubule-associated protein. Here, we specifically review the literature detailing the impact of anesthetic administration on aberrant tau hyperphosphorylation as well as the subsequent development of neurofibrillary pathology and degeneration. •Anesthesia has been suggested to induce Alzheimer's disease pathology.•Herein we review the literature on the impact of anesthesia on tau pathology.•Anesthesia has been shown to induce tau hyperphosphorylation in vivo and in vitro.•More clinical evidence linking anesthesia to an increase in tau pathology is needed.