The effects of hydromorphone on astrocytic responses in cerebral ischemia

Abstract

Background: Ischemic insult during operation could cause ischemic-reperfusion injuries in brain and memory impairments. Total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) is preferred in brain surgery to promote the use of motor evoked potential monitoring and the use of opioids is common in TIVA. However there were few studies about ischemic protective effect of opioids to astrocytes. Methods: We used astrocytes, which were derived from human brain. We divided groups by conditioning period; i) pre-culture, ii) post-culture, or iii) pre + post-culture. All groups were treated 100 nM hydromorphone. We measured reactive oxygen species (ROS) by flow cytometry with 2’,7’-dichloroflurorescin diacetate. Then ROS in astrocytes which treated by opioid receptor antagonist were measured after treating 100 nM hydromorphone. Results: ROS was reduced in hydromorphone treated group, as compared to the control group (only tert-butyl hydroperoxide [TBH] treated). There was no difference in pre-conditioned group and post-conditioned group. However, ROS was much more reduced in pre + post-conditioned group compared to pre-conditioned only or post-conditioned only group. Furthermore each selective -, δ- and κ-opioid receptor antagonists partially negated the effect of hydromorphone. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that hydromorphone has both preconditioning and postconditioning effects on TBH- induced oxidative stress. Furthermore we proved each μ-, δ- and κ-opioid receptor relates to protective mechanism of hydromor- phone to astrocytes.