The effect of general anaesthetics on brain lactate release

• Published in: European journal of pharmacology 2020-08, Vol.881, p.173188-173188, Article 173188
• Main Authors: Hadjihambi, Anna, Karagiannis, Anastassios, Theparambil, Shefeeq M., Ackland, Gareth L., Gourine, Alexander V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anaesthesia; Anesthetics, General - pharmacology; Animals; Astrocytes - drug effects; Astrocytes - metabolism; Brain energy metabolism; Brain Stem - drug effects; Brain Stem - metabolism; Cells, Cultured; Cerebral Cortex - drug effects; Cerebral Cortex - metabolism; Down-Regulation; Etomidate - pharmacology; Female; GABAergic mechanisms; Glycolysis - drug effects; Lactate; Lactate shuttle; Lactic Acid - metabolism; Male; Neurons - drug effects; Neurons - metabolism; Propofol - pharmacology; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Secretory Pathway; Sleep; Thiopental - pharmacology
• ISSN: 0014-2999; 1879-0712
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173188

The effects of anaesthetic agents on brain energy metabolism may explain their shared neurophysiological actions but remain poorly understood. The brain lactate shuttle hypothesis proposes that lactate, provided by astrocytes, is an important neuronal energy substrate. Here we tested the hypothesis that anaesthetic agents impair the brain lactate shuttle by interfering with astrocytic glycolysis. Lactate biosensors were used to record changes in lactate release by adult rat brainstem and cortical slices in response to thiopental, propofol and etomidate. Changes in cytosolic nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide reduced (NADH) and oxidized (NAD+) ratio as a measure of glycolytic rate were recorded in cultured astrocytes. It was found that in brainstem slices thiopental, propofol and etomidate reduced lactate release by 7.4 ± 3.6% (P