Antidepressant Effects Of Isoflurane In CUMS Mice

Objective The volatile anesthetic isoflurane is suggested to produce a rapid and robust antidepressive effect in preliminary clinical trials.Recently,isoflurane was found to activate the tropomyosin receptor kinase B(Trk B)signaling which is the underlying mechanism of the rapid antidepressant ketamine.Our study investigated the effect of isoflurane anesthesia on chronic unpredictable mild stressed(CUMS)model in mice and verified the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)/Trk B/ the mammalian target of rapamycin(m TOR)signaling in the antidepressant effect of isoflurane.Methods We employed the CUMS model of depression to assess the rapid antidepressant effect of isoflurane by the forced swimming test(FST),the sucrose preference test(SPT),and the novelty suppressed feeding test(NSFT).The protein expression of BDNF and Trk B/protein kinase B(PKB or Akt)/m TOR were determined through Western blot.The dendritic spine density in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex(PFC)was measured by the Golgi staining.Results A brief burst-suppressing isoflurane anesthesia rapidly reversed the behavioral deficits caused by CUMS procedure,normalized the expression of BDNF and further activated the Trk B signaling pathway in CUMS-induced stressed mice in both prefrontal cortex(PFC)and hippocampus(HC).All of those behavioral and proteomic effects were blocked by K252 a,a selective receptor inhibitor of Trk B.Isoflurane significantly promoted the formation of dendritic spines in both medial prefrontal cortex(m PFC),CA1,CA3 and DG of the hippocampus.Conclusion Our study indicates that isoflurane exerts a rapid antidepressant-like effect in CUMS depression animal model and the activation of BDNF/Trk B signaling pathway plays an indispensable role in the biological and behavioral antidepressant effects of isoflurane.A single exposure to isoflurane could repair synaptic damage caused by chronic stimulation.