Anesthesiology
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Editorial Comment
How "Volatile" Is the Protection Provided by Inhalational Anesthetics?
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Severe blast limb trauma (BLT) induces distant multiple-organ injuries. In the current study, the authors determined whether whole-body hypothermia (WH) and its optimal duration (if any) afford protection to the local limb damage and distant lung, liver, and kidney injuries after BLT in rats. ⋯ Results of this study indicated that WH may provide protection for distant organs and local traumatic limb after blast trauma, which warrants further study.
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Early postnatal exposure to general anesthesia (GA) may be detrimental to brain development, resulting in long-term cognitive impairments. Older literature suggests that in utero exposure of rodents to GA causes cognitive impairments in the first-generation as well as in the second-generation offspring never exposed to GA. Thus, the authors hypothesize that transient exposure to GA during critical stages of synaptogenesis causes epigenetic changes in chromatin with deleterious effects on transcription of target genes crucial for proper synapse formation and cognitive development. They focus on the effects of GA on histone acetyltransferase activity of cAMP-responsive element-binding protein and the histone-3 acetylation status in the promoters of the target genes brain-derived neurotrophic factor and cellular Finkel-Biskis-Jinkins murine sarcoma virus osteosarcoma oncogene (c-Fos) known to regulate the development of neuronal morphology and function. ⋯ Long-term impairments of neuronal development and synaptic communication could be caused by GA-induced epigenetic phenomena.