J Anesth Perioper Med. 2015;2(1):14-21. https://doi.org/10.24015/ebcmed.japm.2015.0003

Surgery Induces Activation of Indoleamine 2, 3-Dioxygenase, Increases in Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines and Cognitive Impairment in Old Rats

Xiao Wang1*, Li Chen1*, Hui-Wei Zhang1, Chun-Yu Gong2, Kang Yi1, Zhuo Li3, Huai-ming Wang1, Jin Liu1, Zhongcong Xie4, and Jing Yang1

From the 1Department of Anesthesiology and Translational Neuroscience Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; 2Department of Surgery, NO. 4 West China Teaching Hospital,Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; 3Department of pharmacy, Shaanxi provincial people's hospital, Xi'an, China; 4Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.

*Xiao Wang and Li Chen contributed equally to this work.

Correspondence to Dr. Jing Yang at weiweiyang@163.com

EBCMED ID: ebcmed.japm.2015.0003 DOI: 10.24015/ebcmed.japm.2015.0003


Abstract

Background
Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is one of the most common complications in senior patients after surgery. However, the cause is largely unknown. Activation of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO), a rate-limiting enzyme of kynurenine pathway, which converts tryptophan into kynurenine in extrahepatic tissues, may contribute to cognitive impairment. We therefore set out to assess whether surgery under anesthesia can induce activation of IDO, neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment in old rats.

Methods
Male Sprague-Dawley rats (24-month-old) were randomly assigned into three groups: 40% oxygen inhalation, 1.8% isoflurane anesthesia and left nephrectomy under 1.8% isoflurane anesthesia. Cognitive function was assessed daily in Y maze. Levels of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), IDO, tryptophan and kynurenine in serum and hippocampus were determined at 6 hours, 1, 3 and 7 days after anesthesia or surgery by using MILLIPLEX MAP Rat Cytokine Panel, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), respectively.

Results
Anesthesia with 1.8% isoflurane for three hours increased IL-6 level in serum at six hours which returned to normal level at 24 hours after the anesthesia. The isoflurane anesthesia alone did not induce cognitive impairment. Nephrectomy plus isoflurane elevated IFN- γ level in serum, increased levels of IL-6 and IDO, and IDO activity, determined by the ratio of tryptophan and kynurenine, in both serum and hippocampus, and finally induced cognitive impairment. These data showed that surgery under isoflurane anesthesia may induce activation of IDO, neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment in old rats.

Conclusions
These results suggested the potential role of IDO pathway in POCD pathogenesis, pending on further studies.

Article Type
Original Article

Declaration of Interests
The authors deny any other conflict of interests.

Acknowledgements
These studies were supported in part by grant No. 81271201 from the National Research Foundation of Nature Sciences, Beijing, China.
These studies are attributed to Department of Anesthesiology and Translational Neuroscience Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.

This is an open-access article, published by Evidence Based Communications (EBC). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format for any lawful purpose. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.