Abstract:Objective To explore the impact of neonatal-period repeated inhalation of Sevoflurane on learning and memory of rats with different genders and in different periods. Methods Forty-eight newborn SD rats were divided into Sevoflurane male group (Sev M group, n = 12), Sevoflurane female group (Sev F group, n = 12), control male group (Con M group, n = 12) and control female group (Con F group, n = 12). The rats of the Sev M group and the Sev F group inhaled 2.6% Sevoflurane and carrier gas (1 L/min air + 1 L/min oxygen) for 2 h on the 7th, 14th and 21st d after birth; while the rats in the control groups inhaled only carrier gas for 2 h on the same days. The rats were naturally fed till infancy (31-37 d), and Morris water maze experiment was done, swimming distance and escape latency time ibatch feeding rats to adulthood (91-97 d), navigation and space exploration experiments were done again, the same indexes were observed. Results The total swimming distance of the infant rats was longer than that of the adult rats. The indexes of the navigation and space exploration experiments were not significantly different between the female and male infant rats (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in any index of the positioning navigation and space exploration experiments between the adult female and male rats (P > 0.05). Conclusions Repeated inhalation of Sevoflurane may cause temporary and mild damage of learning and memory ability without change in spatial reference memory in infant rats; however it has no impact on adult rats. After repeating Sevoflurane anesthesia there is no obvious difference in learning or memory ability between newborn rats of different genders.n the navigation experiment and the indexes in the space exploration experiment were observed. With