Long-lasting behavioral effects in neonatal mice with multiple exposures to ketamine-xylazine anesthesia.
Anesthetic agents are often administered in the neonatal period, a time of rapid brain development and synaptogenesis. Mounting evidence suggests that anesthetics can disrupt neurocognitive development, particularly in cases of multiple or prolonged anesthetic exposure. Previous studies have shown that administering multiple doses of ketamine-xylazine (KX) anesthesia to neonatal mice can induce long-term changes to synaptic plasticity in the cortex, but the effect on neurocognitive function remains unclear. In this study, we exposed neonatal mice to single dose and multiple doses of KX anesthesia in the neonatal period (postnatal days 7, 9, 11), and conducted a series of behavioral tests in young adulthood (1month of age). Mice receiving multiple doses of KX anesthesia showed deficits in novel object recognition, sociability, preference for social novelty and contextual fear response, but no effect on auditory-cued fear response. Single dose of KX anesthesia had no effect on these behaviors except for contextual fear response. We also observed that multiple exposures to KX anesthesia were associated with decreased CaMKII phosphorylation, which is known to play a role in synapse development and long-term potentiation, likely contributing to learning impairment.
Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Lianyan
L
Huang
Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Scott
S
Hayes
Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. Electronic address: guang.yang@med.nyu.edu.
Guang
G
Yang
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D005239:Fear / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D007649:Ketamine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects*; D012919:Social Behavior; D013574:Synaptosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D014991:Xylazine / Q000009:adverse effects*
D004338:Drug Combinations; D014991:Xylazine; D007649:Ketamine; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2
Anesthetics; Behavior; CaMKII; Ketamine; Neonate