Demand is increasing for safer inhalational anesthetics for use in pediatric anesthesia. In this regard, researchers have debated whether isoflurane is more toxic to the developing brain than desflurane. In the present study, we compared the effects of postnatal exposure to isoflurane with those of desflurane on long-term cognitive performance and investigated the role of the Akt/GSK3β signalin...

Malignant hyperthermia manifests as a rapid and sustained rise in temperature in response to pharmacological triggering agents, e.g. inhalational anesthetics and the muscle relaxant suxamethonium. Other clinical signs include an increase in end-tidal CO2, increased O2 consumption, as well as tachycardia, and if untreated a malignant hyperthermia episode can result in death. The metabolic change...

AIMS We compared the effect of desflurane and sevoflurane on anesthesia recovery time in patients undergoing urological cystoscopic surgery. The Short Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test (SOMCT) measured and compared cognitive impairment between groups and coughing was assessed throughout the anesthetic. METHODS AND MATERIALS This investigation included 75 ambulatory patients. Patients were...

Human serum albumin (HSA) is one of the most abundant proteins in the circulatory system and plays a key role in the transport of fatty acids, metabolites, and drugs. For many drugs, binding to serum albumin is a critical determinant of their distribution and pharmacokinetics; however, there have as yet been no high resolution crystal structures published of drug-albumin complexes. Here we desc...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Magnesium is predominantly an intracellular ion. Its blocking effects on NMDA receptors are responsible for the analgesic and sedative characteristics of this ion. The objective of this study was to review the physiology, pharmacology, and decreased plasma levels of magnesium, as well as its applications in obstetrics and anesthesia. CONTENTS Magnesium is an intracel...

BACKGROUND Inhalational anesthetics are neuroprotective in rat models of global ischemia. To determine whether isoflurane at a clinically relevant concentration is neuroprotective in a canine model of cardiac arrest, we measured neurologic function and hippocampal Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) content 20 h after cardiac arrest. METHODS We tested the neuroprotective effe...

INTRODUCTION Anesthesia induction through volatile agents is a well-established technique in several fields but not in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Successful inhalation induction requires a poorly soluble, reasonably potent and minimally irritant agent, and the benefits associated to this technique include reduced incidence of hypothermia and hypotension and lower costs when comp...

Human serum albumin (HSA) is one of the most abundant proteins in the circulatory system and plays a key role in the transport of fatty acids, metabolites, and drugs. For many drugs, binding to serum albumin is a critical determinant of their distribution and pharmacokinetics; however, there have as yet been no high resolution crystal structures published of drug-albumin complexes. Here we desc...

The hypothesis that volatile anesthetics act directly on or bind specifically to membrane proteins remains controversial. In earlier in situ electron probe microanalysis studies in cardiac muscle we showed preferential partitioning of halothane into mitochondria. To determine whether partitioning represents saturable binding or simple solubility, a photoaffinity labeling method was developed fo...

Repeated or prolonged anesthesia to pregnant women disturbs neurodevelopment of developing infants, but its mechanism has not been elaborated absolutely. This study was conducted to investigate the mechanism of potential neurotoxicity on their offspring generation after sevoflurane anesthesia in adult animals during pregnancy based on metabolomics. 16 pregnant rats were equally assigned to sevo...