title: The Role of Dopaminergic VTA Neurons in General Anesthesia.
abstract: Recent studies have demonstrated that the central dopaminergic system is implicated in the mechanism underlying general anesthesia. Here, we investigated whether dopaminergic ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons participate in general anesthesia. Dopaminergic VTA neurons were selectively ablated from male Sprague Dawley rats via the bilateral infusion of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the VTA. Two weeks after infusion, the number of dopaminergic neurons in the bilateral VTA was markedly reduced in the 6-OHDA-treated rats compared with the vehicle-treated rats. These bilateral VTA lesions significantly prolonged the recovery time for propofol but did not significantly alter its onset time or 50% effective dose (ED50) value. In addition, the anesthetic responses to isoflurane and ketamine were unaffected by the VTA lesions. Our findings suggested that dopaminergic VTA neurons might be involved in the emergence from propofol anesthesia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310000, China.
authors.forename: Xuelong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The Tai Zhou People's Hospital, Taizhou, 225300, China.
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310000, China.
authors.forename: Chenjing
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, 221000, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, 221000, China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310000, China.
authors.forename: LiNa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310000, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General; D000818:Animals; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D007530:Isoflurane / Q000494:pharmacology; D007649:Ketamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D016627:Oxidopamine; D015742:Propofol / Q000494:pharmacology; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D007649:Ketamine; D016627:Oxidopamine; D007530:Isoflurane; D015742:Propofol