Influence of Volatile Anesthesia on the Release of Glutamate and other Amino Acids in the Nucleus Accumbens of Alcohol-Withdrawn Rats

An alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a potentially life-threatening condition, which may occur when patients with alcohol use disorders have to undergo general anesthesia. Excitatory amino acids, such as glutamate, act as neurotransmitters and play a key role in alcohol withdrawal. We investigated the influence of isoflurane, sevoflurane, and desflurane anesthesia on the profile of excitatory and inhibitory amino acids in the Nucleus accumbens (NAcc) of alcohol-withdrawn rats (AWR).

80 Wistar rats were randomized into two groups of 40, pair-fed with alcoholic or non-alcoholic nutrition. Nutrition was withdrawn and microdialysis trials were performed to measure the activity of amino acids in the NAcc. The withdrawal onset time was determined in a first trial with 20 rats. 60 rats then received isoflurane, sevoflurane, or desflurane anesthesia for three hours during withdrawal period, followed by one hour of elimination. Amino acid concentrations were obtained by chromatography. Quantification was done by integration and analysis of the area under the curve (AUC).