• Tomomi Suehara, Jun Morishita, Masaaki Ueki, Masaki Ueno, Nobuhiro Maekawa, and Satoshi Mizobuchi.
• Division of Anesthesiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
• Paediatr Anaesth. 2016 Jan 1; 26 (1): 52-9.

BackgroundExposure to some anesthetic agents during the fetal period has been shown to induce neurodegeneration or learning deficits in animal models. Sevoflurane is one of the most prevalent general anesthetics; however, the influence of sevoflurane at a clinically relevant concentration on the developing fetal brain remains unknown.ObjectiveWe investigated whether a single sevoflurane exposure during the fetal period would affect neuronal development and learning/memory ability in mice.MethodsPregnant mice at gestational day 17 were anesthetized with 1.5% sevoflurane in 50% oxygen for 6 h. Mice in the control group were exposed in 50% oxygen without sevoflurane. Pups of some mice in both groups subsequently were delivered early by cesarean section and whole fetal brains were excised. The rest of the pups were delivered naturally at gestational day 20 and were maintained for 8 weeks. The mRNA expression levels of caspase-3, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF), and LIM kinase-1 (LIMK-1) were measured in fetal whole brain and 8-week-old hippocampus sections. Synaptophysin protein in adult hippocampus was assessed immunochemically. In addition, 8-week-old mice were subjected to the radial maze test.ResultsNo significant difference between sevoflurane and control groups regarding mRNA expression levels of all targets was seen, nor was there an obvious change in synaptophysin protein expression. The results of the maze test revealed that the each-day performance ratios (the rate of errors) of the sevoflurane group were not altered as compared with the control group.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the exposure during late pregnancy to a clinically relevant concentration of sevoflurane does not affect neuronal development and learning/memory ability of offspring mice.© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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