title: Impaired acquisition of conditioned taste aversion memory induced by isoflurane is accompanied with calcineurin activation and Egr-1 down-regulation in amygdala in rats.
abstract: Compared to neutral memory, emotional memory is extremely strong and persistent immediately after acquisition, therefore it may recruit specific mechanisms during acquisition. The calcineurin-dependent mechanisms engaging early growth response 1 (Egr-1) have been proved to determine the strength of emotional memory during establishment. Isoflurane, a widely used inhalation anesthetic, can interfere with the acquisition of emotional memory. We hypothesized that isoflurane impairs the acquisition of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) memory in rats and the Egr-1 expression regulation via calcineurin (CaN) and ERK signaling pathway is involved in isoflurane-induced repression of CTA memory. To examine this, we investigated the influence of isoflurane on CTA memory and the expression and activity of CaN, the phosphorylation level of ERK and the expression of Egr-1 in amygdala in response to CTA training in rats. The results showed that isoflurane exposure (1.5%, 2h) before training impaired the acquisition of CTA memory in rats. Isoflurane exposure increased the CaN activity and decreased the p-ERK and Egr-1 in amygdala in rats. These findings suggest that isoflurane can disrupt the establishment of aversion memory, and CaN activation associating with p-ERK and Egr-1 down-regulation may contribute to the isoflurane induced impairment of aversion memory acquisition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Sensen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Qingsheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Fujun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China. Electronic address: yubuwei_2015@126.com.
authors.forename: Buwei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D019703:Calcineurin / Q000378:metabolism*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D015536:Down-Regulation; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D007530:Isoflurane / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1; C486110:Egr1 protein, rat; D007530:Isoflurane; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; D019703:Calcineurin
keywords: Calcineurin; Conditioned taste aversion; ERK; Early growth response 1; Isoflurane