Abstract:

Objective To investigate the effects of propofol on the expression of proteins in hippocampus tissues of Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus by proteomics method. Methods GK rats were randomly allocated to propofol group (n=12), control group (n=12) and parameter group (n=5). Rats in propofol group and parameter group were anesthetized with propofol intraperitoneally under an initial bolus injection (100 mg/kg), followed by supplemental doses of 50 mg/kg 1 h and 2 h later, and the anesthesia maintained for 3 h. Rats in control group were injected with the same amount of normal saline. Rats in propofol group were sacrificed 3 h, 24 h, 72 h and 1 week after anesthesia respectively, and hippocampus tissues were obtained and subjected to global protein expression profiling based on SDS-PAGE. Expression factors were compared with results from control group at each time point, and spots expressed more than four-fold change were cut out for mass spectrometry. Rats in parameter group were selected for blood gas analysis 0.5 h, 1.5 h and 2.5 h after administration of propofol. Results Compared with control group, down-regulated spots were found 3 h (7 spots), 24 h (3 spots) and 72 h (2 spots) after anesthesia, 2 up-regulated spots were detected at the time point of 1 week, and 14 differentially expressed proteins were identified in relation to redox reactions, energy metabolism, synaptic transmission, cytoskeleton and movement, and cell apoptosis in propofol group. Blood gas analysis indicated that there were significant differences in pH and PaO₂ between the time points of 0.5 h and 2.5 h after administration of propofol in parameter group (P＜0.05), while both were in the normal physiological range. Conclusion Propofol anesthesia may result in changes of expression of proteins in hippocampus tissues of GK rats, and proteins such as hippocampal cholinergic neurostimulating peptide precursor and voltage-dependent anion-selective channel protein 1 are associated with cognitive function.

Key words: propofol, hippocampus, diabetes mellitus, cognition, proteomics