Comparison of pentobarbital and propofol on the outcome of focal cerebral ischemia model in rats

Objective: To compare the effects of pentobarbital and propofol on the outcome of focal cerebral ischemia model, and to evaluate the availability of propofol in setting the focal cerebral ischemia. Methods: Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) under pentobarbital or propofol intraperitoneal anesthesia (n = 15 each). A modified Beder son's scoring system was adopted to assess neurological scoring at 4 h after the MCAO. TTC staining was used to determine the infarct size at 24 h after the MCAO. At day 3 after the MCAO, TUNEL and toluidine blue staining were performed to measure the density of apoptotic cells and surviving neurons in the penumbra. Results: Neither neurological scoring (1. 46 ±0. 98 vs 1. 29 ±0. 72), infarct size [(37. 8 ±4. 95) % vs (31. 1 ±5. 09) %] nor neuronal density in the penumbra [(740 ±24) neurons/mm ² vs (794 ±23) neurons/mm ²] was statistically different between pentobarbital and propofol groups (P>0. 05). But apoptotic cell density in the penumbra was significantly higher in the propofol group than that in the pentobarbital group [(356 ±20) cells/mm vs (262 ±17) cells/mm ², P < 0. 05]. Conclusion: In the establishment of the focal ischemia model in rats, anesthesia with propofol or pentobarbital induces similar neurological scoring, infarct size and survived neurons in the penumbra. Propofol anesthesia increases cell apoptosis in the penumbra compared with pentobarbital and its application might be an unsuitable anesthetic method in the model for evaluating the effect of procedures or drugs on cell apoptosis.