title: Remifentanil alleviates transient cerebral ischemia-induced memory impairment through suppression of apoptotic neuronal cell death in gerbils.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During neurosurgical procedures, patients are often exposed to hypoxic and ischemic brain damage. Cerebral ischemia leads to neuronal cell death and eventually causes neurological impairments. Remifentanil is a new ultra-short acting phenylpiperidine opioid analgesic. In this study, we evaluated remifentanil to determine if it exerts an anti-apoptotic effect in the hippocampal dentate gyrus following transient global ischemia in gerbils.
  
  
  METHODS
  Step-down avoidance task, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, and immunohistochemical staining for caspase-3 were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The numbers of TUNEL-positive cells and caspase-3-positive cells in the dentate gyrus were increased by ransient global ischemia. Latency in the step-down avoidance task was increased by transient global ischemia. Results revealed that apoptotic cell death in the dentate gyrus was increased significantly following transient global ischemia, resulting in memory impairment. However, treatment with remifentanil suppressed ischemia-induced apoptosis in the dentate gyrus, thereby alleviating the memory impairment that was induced by ischemic cerebral injury.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that remifentanil may exert a neuroprotective effect on ischemic brain damage during surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung-Wook
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jae-Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Young-Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong-Man
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Dong Ok
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Mal-Soon
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Chang-Ju
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Doo Ik
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong-Hee
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Bong Jae
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Lee