Dian-Shi Wang, Li Ju, Arsène G Pinguelo, Kirusanthy Kaneshwaran, Sean C Haffey, Irene Lecker, Himaben Gohil, Michael B Wheeler, Lilia Kaustov, Anthony Ariza, MeiFeng Yu, Allen Volchuk, Benjamin E Steinberg, Neil M Goldenberg, Beverley A Orser
General anesthetic drugs cause cognitive deficits that persist after the drugs have been eliminated. Astrocytes may contribute to such cognition-impairing effects through the release of one or more paracrine factors that increase a tonic inhibitory conductance generated by extrasynaptic γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA ) receptors in hippocampal neurons. The mechanisms underlying this astrocyte-to-neuron crosstalk remain unknown. Interestingly, astrocytes express anesthetic-sensitive GABAA receptors...
December 1, 2023: Translational Research: the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine