Neural and Immune Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury Does Propofol Reduce the Impact?

摘要

IN this issue of Anesthesiol-ogy, Luo et al. provide evidence that propofol dampens microglial activation after traumatic brain injury and that this leads to improved neurological outcomes in the rodents they studied. This work adds to accumulating data about the organ-protective effects of anesthetics and their effects on the immune system. Although the neuro-protective effects of propofol have been shown several times, the improvement in cognitive outcomes relative to isoflurane is intriguing. One interpretation is that propofol may be neuroprotec-tive by directly decreasing microglial activation through modulation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleo-tide phosphate (NADPH) oxidation reactions after traumatic brain injury; however, we should be cautious in accepting this sole conclusion.