Effect of propofol on hippocampal CA2 and CA3 cells in rat model of ischemic/reperfusion

Cerebral ischemia/ reperfusion leads to programmed cell death or planned apoptosis. Hippocampus is a very sensitive tissue to cerebral ischemia. Propofol is an anesthesia that recently the use of this drug as a neuroprotective has been considered. In this study, the effect of propofol on CA2 and CA3 areas of the hippocampus following ischemia was investigated.

24 Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, including: control ischemia, experimental and vehicle. The experimental group received 40 mg/ kg of propofol and the vehicle group received 1 ml normal saline 1 hour before ischemia intraperitoneally. The ischemic model was performed by bilateral closure of the common carotid arteries for 20 minutes then reperfusion was done. 4 days later, all rats were sacrificed and the hippocampal tissue was examined by Nissl staining method. Data were analyzed using SPSS-25 statistical software by one-way ANOVA and TUKEY test. p<0.05 was considered as Significant.

Ischemia/ reperfusion for 20 minutes caused degeneration of pyramidal cells in CA2 and CA3 hippocampus and these neurons showed a significant decrease compared to the control group, but propofol injection inhibited the decrease in the number of viable cells in these two areas.

Propofol can be used as an effective agent in preventing or reducing the complications of stroke alone or with other drugs.