Isoflurane provides neuroprotection in neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain injury

Sherrefa R. Burchell, Brandon J. Dixon, Jiping Tang, John H. Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Isoflurane is a volatile anesthetic that is widely used clinically as an inhalational anesthetic. In recent years, several studies have indicated that isoflurane has neuroprotective properties. This has led to the beneficial effects of isoflurane being analyzed in both cell culture and animal models, including various models of brain injury. Neonatal hypoxia ischemia may be characterized as injury that occurs in the immature brain, resulting in delayed cell death via excitotoxicity and oxidative stress. These adverse events in the developing brain often lead to detrimental neurological defects in the future. Currently, there are no well-established effective therapies for neonatal hypoxia ischemia. In line with this, isoflurane, which displays neuroprotective properties in several paradigms and has been shown to improve neurological deficits caused by brain injuries, has the capability to be an extremely relevant clinical therapy for the resolution of deficits concomitant with neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain injuries. This review therefore seeks to explore and analyze the current information on isoflurane, looking at general isoflurane anesthetic properties, and the protection it confers in different animal models, focusing particularly on neuroprotection as shown in studies with neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain injury. © 2013 by The American Federation for Medical Research.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1078-1083
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Investigative Medicine
Volume61
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2013

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology

Keywords

  • Isoflurane
  • Isoflurane mechanism
  • Long-term neuroprotection
  • Neonatal hypoxia ischemia
  • Postconditioning
  • Preconditioning
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Neuroprotective Agents/administration & dosage
  • Humans
  • Brain/drug effects
  • Anesthetics, Inhalation/administration & dosage
  • Animals
  • Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain/metabolism
  • Isoflurane/administration & dosage
  • Infant, Newborn

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