TY - JOUR AB - The volatile anaesthetic isoflurane is one of the most frequently employed general anaesthetics in neonates, children and adults. Accumulating evidence demonstrated that exposure to anaesthetics is associated with widespread neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. Thus, the identification and development of compounds capable of preventing or reducing these adverse effects is of great clinical importance. For this purpose, the present study aimed to assess the effects of a flavonoid, naringenin, on isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis and cognitive impairment. Separate groups of neonatal rat pups were administered naringenin at 25, 50 or 100 mg/kg body weight from postnatal day 1 (P1) to P21. On P7, the pups were exposed to 6 h of isoflurane (0.75%) anaesthesia. Neuroapoptosis was examined using the TUNEL assay. The expression of cleaved caspase-3, the apoptotic pathway proteins (Bad, Bax, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL), the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) pathway proteins [Akt, phosphorylated (-)Akt, glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK‑3β), p‑GSK-3β, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN)] and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)‑mediated signalling proteins were determined by western blot analysis. General behaviour, as well as the learning ability and memory of the pups were assessed. Naringenin significantly inhibited isoflurane‑induced neuroapoptosis and markedly decreased the protein expression of caspase-3, Bad, Bax, NF-κB, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β. Furthermore, naringenin increased the expression of Bcl-xL and Bcl-2 and activated the PI3K/Akt pathway. Significant improvements in learning capacity and memory retention were observed following naringenin treatment. Naringenin effectively ameliorated cognitive dysfunction and reduced isoflurane‑induced apoptosis as well as modulating the PI3/Akt/PTEN and NF-κB signalling pathways. AD - Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, P.R. China Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330039, P.R. China AU - Hua,Fu-Zhou AU - Ying,Jun AU - Zhang,Jing AU - Wang,Xi-Feng AU - Hu,Yan-Hui AU - Liang,Ying-Ping AU - Liu,Qin AU - Xu,Guo-Hai DA - 2016/10/01 DO - 10.3892/ijmm.2016.2715 EP - 1280 IS - 4 JO - Int J Mol Med KW - anaesthesia isoflurane naringenin nuclear factor-κB neuroapoptosis phosphoinositide 3/protein kinase B/phosphatase and tensin homolog signalling pathway PY - 2016 SN - 1107-3756 1791-244X SP - 1271 ST - Naringenin pre-treatment inhibits neuroapoptosis and ameliorates cognitive impairment in rats exposed to isoflurane anesthesia by regulating the PI3/Akt/PTEN signalling pathway and suppressing NF-κB-mediated inflammation T2 - International Journal of Molecular Medicine TI - Naringenin pre-treatment inhibits neuroapoptosis and ameliorates cognitive impairment in rats exposed to isoflurane anesthesia by regulating the PI3/Akt/PTEN signalling pathway and suppressing NF-κB-mediated inflammation UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2016.2715 VL - 38 ER -