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The effect of general anaesthetics on brain lactate release

Hadjihambi, A; Karagiannis, A; Theparambil, SM; Ackland, GL; Gourine, AV; (2020) The effect of general anaesthetics on brain lactate release. European Journal of Pharmacology , 881 , Article 173188. 10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173188. Green open access

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Abstract

The effects of anaesthetic agents on brain energy metabolism may explain their shared neurophysiological actions but remain poorly understood. The brain lactate shuttle hypothesis proposes that lactate, provided by astrocytes, is an important neuronal energy substrate. Here we tested the hypothesis that anaesthetic agents impair the brain lactate shuttle by interfering with astrocytic glycolysis. Lactate biosensors were used to record changes in lactate release by adult rat brainstem and cortical slices in response to thiopental, propofol and etomidate. Changes in cytosolic nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide reduced (NADH) and oxidized (NAD+) ratio as a measure of glycolytic rate were recorded in cultured astrocytes. It was found that in brainstem slices thiopental, propofol and etomidate reduced lactate release by 7.4 ± 3.6% (P < 0.001), 9.7 ± 6.6% (P < 0.001) and 8.0 ± 7.8% (P = 0.04), respectively. In cortical slices, thiopental reduced lactate release by 8.2 ± 5.6% (P = 0.002) and propofol by 6.0 ± 4.5% (P = 0.009). Lactate release in cortical slices measured during the light phase (period of sleep/low activity) was ~25% lower than that measured during the dark phase (period of wakefulness) (326 ± 83 μM vs 430 ± 118 μM, n = 10; P = 0.04). Thiopental and etomidate induced proportionally similar decreases in cytosolic [NADH]:[NAD+] ratio in astrocytes, indicative of a reduction in glycolytic rate. These data suggest that anaesthetic agents inhibit astrocytic glycolysis and reduce the level of extracellular lactate in the brain. Similar reductions in brain lactate release occur during natural state of sleep, suggesting that general anaesthesia may recapitulate some of the effects of sleep on brain energy metabolism.

Type: Article
Title: The effect of general anaesthetics on brain lactate release
Location: Netherlands
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173188
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173188
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/).
Keywords: Anaesthesia, Brain energy metabolism, GABAergic mechanisms, Lactate, Lactate shuttle, Sleep
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Neuro, Physiology and Pharmacology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10099038
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