Subhypnotic doses of propofol impair spatial memory retrieval in rats

• Published in: Neural regeneration research Vol. 11; no. 12; pp. 1956 - 1961
• Main Authors: Liu, Hu, Wang, Ting, Dai, Wei, Jiang, Zheng, Li, Yuan-hai, Liu, Xue-sheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01.12.2016; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Anesthesia; Animal memory; Behavior; Brain research; Cellular signal transduction; Dose-response relationship; Drug dosages; Fluorides; Kinases; Laboratory animals; Medical research; Memory; nerve regeneration; glycogen synthase kinase-3β; propofol; memory retrieval; Morris water maze; neural regeneration; Patient outcomes; Phosphorylation; Propofol; Proteins; Psychological aspects; Retrieval (Memory); Rodents; Software; 大鼠; 小剂量; 异丙酚; 提取; 磷酸化; 空间; 记忆力; 采集试验; United States > US; China; glycogen synthase kinase-3β; nerve regeneration; Morris water maze; neural regeneration; memory retrieval; propofol
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.197137

Abundant evidence indicates that propofol profoundly affects memory processes, although its specific effects on memory retrieval have not been clarified. A recent study has indicated that hippocampal glycogen synthase kinase-3β（GSK-3β） activity affects memory. Constitutively active GSK-3β is required for memory retrieval, and propofol has been shown to inhibit GSK-3β. Thus, the present study examined whether propofol affects memory retrieval, and, if so, whether that effect is mediated through altered GSK-3β activity. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were trained on a Morris water maze task（eight acquisition trials in one session） and subjected under the influence of a subhypnotic dose of propofol to a 24-hour probe trial memory retrieval test. The results showed that rats receiving pretest propofol（25 mg/kg） spent significantly less time in the target quadrant but showed no change in locomotor activity compared with those in the control group. Memory retrieval was accompanied by reduced phosphorylation of the serine-9 residue of GSK-3β in the hippocampus, whereas phosphorylation of the tyrosine-216 residue was unaffected. However, propofol blocked this retrieval-associated serine-9 phosphorylation. These findings suggest that subhypnotic propofol administration impairs memory retrieval and that the amnestic effects of propofol may be mediated by attenuated GSK-3β signaling in the hippocampus.