Worldwide every year, anesthetics are used
in millions of neonates and infants during surgical
procedures and imaging studies, moreover hundreds of
pregnant women receive surgery for no-pregnancy
related problems. Advances in this field have
resulted in an increased complexity, duration, and
number of anesthesia procedures. A deep difference
however exists between developing and adult neurons.
During normal CNS development, an excess of neurons
is produced and most of them have to die for the
correct synaptic network formation. In this case,
death is the default; immature neurons are competent
to die and, in the absence of life-signals (trophic
supports), they achieve this target by apoptosis,
the active programmed-cell-death pathway. Adult
neurons indeed, need to survive for the lifetime of
the organism, and their premature death can cause
irreversible functional deficits.Recent findings
demonstrate that the transient exposure to several
classes of drugs, including the intravenous
anesthetic propofol, during the brain growth spurt
period, triggers widespread and dose-dependent
apoptosis in the developing brain.
in millions of neonates and infants during surgical
procedures and imaging studies, moreover hundreds of
pregnant women receive surgery for no-pregnancy
related problems. Advances in this field have
resulted in an increased complexity, duration, and
number of anesthesia procedures. A deep difference
however exists between developing and adult neurons.
During normal CNS development, an excess of neurons
is produced and most of them have to die for the
correct synaptic network formation. In this case,
death is the default; immature neurons are competent
to die and, in the absence of life-signals (trophic
supports), they achieve this target by apoptosis,
the active programmed-cell-death pathway. Adult
neurons indeed, need to survive for the lifetime of
the organism, and their premature death can cause
irreversible functional deficits.Recent findings
demonstrate that the transient exposure to several
classes of drugs, including the intravenous
anesthetic propofol, during the brain growth spurt
period, triggers widespread and dose-dependent
apoptosis in the developing brain.