Abstract:Objective To investigate the effect of dexmedetomidine on attenuating apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in rats undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Methods Totally forty-eight Sprague Dawley male rats, weighing 250 to 350 g, were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 16 each): sham operation group (group S), cardiopulmonary bypass group (group CPB), and dexmedetomidine group (group Dex). In group S, rats needed to be cannulated and did not undergo surgical operation for CPB, which served as sham controls, and the experiment ended after 120 min. In group CPB, all 16 rats underwent surgery to develop CPB for 120 min as model systems. Rats in group CPB did not receive any treatment, which served as CPB control (group CPB). In group Dex, rats received loading doses of dexmedetomidine 2.5 μg/kg intravenously using a microinfusion pump 15 min before CPB. Then, doses of dexmedetomidine 2.5 μg/(kg·h) were maintained intravenously during the CPB procedure for 120 min. After the experiment, rats in each group were used to detect the plasma levels of IL-6 at different time points by ELISA, neuronal apoptosis in hippocampal CA1 area by TUNEL method, the expression of cleaved Caspase-3 protein in hippocampus by Western blot and the water content of brain tissue without hippocampus by weighing method. Results In group CPB and group Dex, the expressions of IL-6 in plasma at T1 and T2 were higher than those at T0 (P < 0.05). Compared with group S, apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in CA1 region, the water content without hippocampus, the expression of IL-6 in plasma and cleaved Caspase-3 protein in hippocampus in group CPB were significantly increased after CPB (P < 0.05). Compared with group CPB, apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in CA1 region, the water content without hippocampus, the expression of IL-6 in plasma and cleaved Caspase-3 protein in hippocampus were significantly decreased in group Dex after CPB (P < 0.05). Conclusions Dexmedetomidine can reduce cerebral injury in CPB rats, and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of inflammatory response and down regulation of the expression of cleaved Caspase-3 protein.