Effects of Anesthetic Administration on Rat Hypothalamus and Cerebral Cortex Peptidome

Prohormone-derived neuropeptides act as cell–cell
signaling
molecules to mediate a wide variety of biological processes in the
animal brain. Mass spectrometry-based peptidomic experiments are valuable
approaches to gain insight into the dynamics of individual peptides
under different physiological conditions or experimental treatments.
However, the use of anesthetics during animal procedures may confound
experimental peptide measurements, especially in the brain, where
anesthetics act. Here, we investigated the effects of the commonly
used anesthetics isoflurane and sodium pentobarbital on the peptide
profile in the rodent hypothalamus and cerebral cortex, as assessed
by label-free quantitative peptidomics. Our results showed that neither
anesthetic dramatically alters peptide levels, although extended isoflurane
exposure did cause changes in a small number of prohormone-derived
peptides in the cerebral cortex. Overall, our results demonstrate
that acute anesthetic administration can be utilized in peptidomic
experiments of the hypothalamus and cerebral cortex without greatly
affecting the measured peptide profiles.