General anesthetics and β-amyloid protein

With roughly 234 million people undergoing surgery with anesthesia each year worldwide, it is important to determine whether commonly used anesthetics can induce any neurotoxicity. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of age-related dementia, and a rapidly growing health problem. Several studies suggest that anesthesia could be associated with the development of AD. Moreover, studies in cultured cells and animals show that commonly used inhalation anesthetics may induce changes consistent with AD neuropathogenesis, e.g., beta-amyloid protein accumulation. Therefore, in this mini review, we focus on the recent research investigating the effects of commonly used anesthetics including isoflurane, sevoflurane, desflurane, nitrous oxide, and propofol, on A beta accumulation in vitro and in vivo. We further discuss the future direction of the research determining the effects of anesthetics on beta-amyloid protein accumulation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.