ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Behav. Neurosci.
Sec. Learning and Memory
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1607421
Effects of Propofol on the Cognition and Hippocampal N-methyl-daspartate Subunits Expression in an MPTP-induced Parkinson's Disease Rat Model
Provisionally accepted
- 1Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
- 2Shanghai Cancer Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
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Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with higher risk of cognitive impairment. Until now, little is known about the effect of anesthetics on cognitive function in PD patients. The imbalance of hippocampal N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors NR2A/NR2B subunit ratio is reported to be associated with memory dysfunction in PD rats. The current study investigated the effects of propofol on the cognitive function and hippocampal NR2A/NR2B ratio in a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced PD rat model. MPTP was stereotaxically injected into the substantia nigra pars compacta of male Wistar rats. Next day (day 2), the rats in the chronic intervention groups were injected daily with either propofol (80 mg/kg/day, i.p.) or fat emulsion for 7 days (day 2-8). The rats in the acute intervention groups received propofol or fat emulsion only on day 8. Then, all the rats underwent an open field test and an inhibitory avoidance (IA) test. At last, the rats were killed for histological analysis and hippocampal NR2A and NR2B proteins and mRNA level quantification. Neither acute nor chronic treatment with propofol can significantly change the impairment of locomotor activity and dopaminergic denervation of the striatum in MPTP-lesioned rats. MPTP lesioning caused IA memory impairment, which was aggravated by chronic treatment with propofol. Furthermore, chronic treatment with propofol also aggravated the imbalance of hippocampal NR2A/NR2B ratio in MPTP-lesioned rats.
Keywords: Cognition, Propofol, Parkinson's disease, NMDAR, hippocampal
Received: 07 Apr 2025; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Zhang, Xu and Ren. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hua Xu, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
Yu Ren, Shanghai Cancer Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, Shanghai Municipality, China
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