Is hydrogen sulfide-induced suspended animation general anesthesia?

Hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) depresses mitochondrial function and thereby metabolic rates in mice, purportedly resulting in a state of "suspended animation." Volatile anesthetics also depress mitochondrial function, an effect that may contribute to their anesthetic properties. In this study, we ask whether H(2)S has general anesthetic properties, and by extension, whether mitochondrial effects underlie the state of anesthesia.

Anesthesia in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease: a study using the triple-transgenic mouse model.

Background: Experimental evidence suggests that anesthetics accelerate symptomatic neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Because AD pathology precedes symptoms, we asked ourselves whether anesthetic exposure in the presymptomatic interval accelerated neuropathology and appearance of symptoms.

Methods: Triple-transgenic AD mice were exposed to general aesthetics, either halothane or isoflurane, at 2, 4, and 6 months of age, they then underwent water maze cognitive testing 2 months later, and subsequently their brains were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunoblots, and immunohistochemistry for amyloid and tau pathology and biomarkers.

Inhaled anesthetic potency in aged Alzheimer mice.

Background: The number of elderly patients with frank or incipient Alzheimer's disease (AD) requiring surgery is growing as the population ages. General anesthesia may exacerbate symptoms of and the pathology underlying AD, so minimizing anesthetic exposure may be important. This requires knowledge of whether the continuing AD pathogenesis alters anesthetic potency.