Neuroinflammation and oxidative stress coexist and interact in the progression of
postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and other
neurodegenerative disease. Mounting studies reveal that
Dexmedetomidine (Dex) possesses anti-inflammatory and
antioxidant properties. Nevertheless, whether Dex exerts
neuroprotective effect on the cognitive sequelae of oxidative stress and inflammatory process remains unclear. A mouse model of abdominal exploratory
laparotomy-induced
cognitive dysfunction was employed to explore the underlying mechanism of
neuroprotective effects exerted by Dex in POCD. Aged mice were treated with Dex (20 µg/kg) 20 min prior to surgery. Open field test (OFT) and Morris water maze (MWM) were employed to examine the cognitive function on postoperative day 3 (POD 3) or POD 7. In the present study, mice underwent surgery exhibited
cognitive impairment without altering spontaneous locomotor activity, while the surgery-induced
cognitive impairment could be alleviated by Dex pretreatment. Dex inhibited surgery-induced pro-inflammatory
cytokines accumulation and microglial activation in the hippocampi of mice. Furthermore, Dex decreased MDA levels, enhanced SOD activity, modulated CDK5 activity and increased
BDNF expression in the hippocampus. In addition, Dex remarkably reduced the surgery-induced increased ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 and apoptotic neurons in the hippocampi of aged mice. Collectively, our study provides evidence that Dex may exert
neuroprotective effects against surgery-induced
cognitive impairment through mechanisms involving its anti-inflammatory and
antioxidant properties, as well as the suppression on the
mitochondrial permeability transition pore and apoptosis-related pathway.