Influence of three different anesthesia protocols on aged rat brain: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

• Main Authors: Yang Liu, Hui-Qun Fu, Yan Wu, Zun-Shu Du, Bo-Ran Li, Xin Gao, Guan-Wen Lin, Shu-Yi Yang, Tian-Long Wang, Yan-Jie Yin and Xiu-Yuan Hao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer 2021-02-01
• Series: Chinese Medical Journal
• Online Access: http://journals.lww.com/10.1097/CM9.0000000000001126

Abstract. Background. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is a promising method for the study of brain function. Typically, rs-fMRI is performed on anesthetized animals. Although different functional connectivity (FC) in various anesthetics on whole brain have been studied, few studies have focused on different FC in the aged brain. Here, we measured FC under three commonly used anesthesia methods and analyzed data to determine if the FC in whole brain analysis were similar among groups. Methods. Twenty-four male aged Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups (n = 8 in each group). Anesthesia was performed under either isoflurane (ISO), combined ISO + dexmedetomidine (DEX) or α-chloralose (AC) according to the groups. Data of rs-fMRI was analyzed by FC in a voxel-wise way. Differences in the FC maps between the groups were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and post hoc two-sample t tests. Results. Compared with ISO + DEX anesthesia, ISO anesthesia caused increased FC in posterior brain and decreased FC in the middle brain of the aged rat. AC anesthesia caused global suppression as no increase in FC was observed. Conclusion. ISO could be used as a substitute for ISO + DEX in rat default mode network studies if the left temporal association cortex is not considered important.