Long-Term Outcome of Single vs. Triple Anesthesia Exposure of Infant Monkeys

There is mounting evidence that general anesthetics, at clinically relevant doses, trigger widespread neuroapoptosis in the developing brain of animals, including nonhuman primates (NHPs). In addition, long-term neurocognitive deficits have been reported by multiple independent laboratories following exposure of infant rodents to anesthetic drugs, and by one group following a 24-hr ketamine infusion in rhesus monkeys (Paule et al., 2010). Dr. Brambink has demonstrated widespread neuronal and oligodendroglia apoptosis (Brambrink et al., 2010a, b) in neonatal rhesus macaques after five hours of isoflurane anesthesia. Recent human epidemiological studies suggest that anesthesia exposure during infancy, especially if it occurs multiple times, may increase risk for neurobehavioral disturbances. The ongoing study uses the established infant NHP model to simulate the human condition of general anesthesia in a highly controlled environment and, supported by a team of expert neuroscientists at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, and will investigate long-term functional and morphologic consequences of single vs. triple anesthesia exposure of infant NHPs.

Related Publications

Effects of Anesthesia with Isoflurane, Ketamine, or Propofol on Physiologic Parameters in Neonatal Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta).
Martin LD, Dissen GA, McPike MJ, Brambrink AM.

Isoflurane, ketamine, and propofol are common anesthetics in human and nonhuman primate medicine. However, scant normative data exist regarding the response of neonatal macaques to these anesthetics. We compared the effects of isoflurane, ketamine, and propofol anesthesia on physiologic parameters in neonatal rhesus macaques. Neonatal rhesus macaques…

Anesthesia for the young child undergoing ambulatory procedures: current concerns regarding harm to the developing brain.
Olsen EA, Brambrink AM.

Sedation and anesthesia are often necessary for children at any age and are frequently provided in ambulatory settings. Concerns have mounted, based on both laboratory studies including various mammalian species and retrospective human clinical studies, that the very drugs that induce sedation and anesthesia may trigger…

Anesthetic neurotoxicity in the newborn and infant.
Olsen EA, Brambrink AM.

Every year, millions of children undergo anesthesia. Emerging evidence from experimental in vitro and in vivo models supports a role for neuropathologic injury and neurobehavioral deficits at older age after early exposure to various anesthetic regimens. Clinical studies have sought to identify…

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