两种不同的神经途径调节全身麻醉期间的丧失和恢复意识

宾夕法尼亚大学医学院研究人员通过表明从麻醉中出现的细胞途径与药物在手术过程中入睡的蜂窝途径不同，回答了有关麻醉药对身体作用方式的长期问题。调查结果将于本周发布美国国家科学院论文集。

该研究的重点是Orexins，这是大脑1000亿个神经元中的小，专业的一部分，这些神经元在调节人体清醒状态方面起着关键作用。Studying mice whose orexin systems had been genetically destroyed – a state similar to humans suffering from narcolepsy, a neurological condition that causes unusual daytime sleepiness – Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in Penn’s Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care and the Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences, found that these mice took much longer to emerge from general anesthesia than those with normal orexin signaling systems. However, the mice with faulty orexin systems did not appear to fall asleep faster during anesthesia, which suggests that different processes are at play when transitioning to and from the anesthetized stated.

“The modern expectation is that anesthesiologists can simply flip a consciousness switch as easily as we might turn the room lights on or off,” says lead author Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in Penn’s Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care and the Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences. “However, what patients do not realize is that despite 160 years of widespread clinical use, the mechanisms through which the state of anesthesia arises and dissipates remain unknown.”

与典型的六分钟左右相比，凯尔兹（Kelz）在治疗了一名麻醉症患者后花了六个多小时以恢复意识，对这些问题产生了兴趣。通过探测麻醉大脑的不同之处，宾夕法尼亚州的研究首次确定进入和退出麻醉状态的过程不是彼此的镜像。

资料来源：宾夕法尼亚大学