Transcriptome analysis of the hippocampus in late postnatal mice after repeated ketamine anesthesia

Numerous recent studies showed that early anesthesia during neurodevelopment may induce changes in specific behaviors. We further studied the effects of early anesthetic exposures regarding addiction behavior later in life. Postnatal day (PND) 16 C57BL/6 mice received ketamine anesthesia for 5 consecutive days. Addiction behavior was evaluated 1 week after anesthesia treatment. Neurological changes after repeated anesthesia were evaluated using high-performance liquid chromatography, RNA sequencing, electrophysiology studies. Repeated ketamine anesthesia during the critical neurodevelopment period increased the expression of genes involved with action potential, and induced excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) imbalance in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons of male mice. Such neurological changes were associated with increases in drug-induced contextual addiction memory. Transcriptome profile of the hippocampus in late postnatal mice after repeated ketamine anesthesia