Stress Responses Related to the Effects of Anesthetics

Inhalational anesthetics such as Sevoflurane and Desflurane, and intravenous anesthetics such as Propofol are widely used as excellent anesthetics for general anesthesia and sedation without clinically significant side effects. On the other hand, studies using cultured cells and mice have reported that these anesthetics exert various effects at the cellular level. Anesthetics are widely used and indispensable agents in medical practice, so it is necessary to understand their properties and use them appropriately. A variety of stress responses can occur when protein production and intracellular trafficking are affected by these anesthetics. These anesthetics may also directly or indirectly affect protein phosphorylation and Ca2+ dynamics, thus affecting intracellular signaling. The result may induce a cyto-protective response, while under certain conditions, it can also cause cytotoxicity. Impaired protein production and trafficking trigger stress responses at the cellular level. Such stress responses are termed heat shock protein response for cytoplasmic proteins and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response or unfolded protein response for membrane and secreted proteins. In addition, there are also reports that local anesthetics are involved in ER stress, and that dexmedetomidine alleviates ER stress. Such stress responses may be involved not only in acute pathologies, but also in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, renal diseases, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases. Excessive stress responses lead to cell damage and cell death, while moderate stress responses may act as cyto-protective. The effects of anesthetics are sometimes reported to be cyto-protective and sometimes cytotoxic. Successful clinical application of these properties would be beneficial. In this research topic, we invite submissions of clinical research and basic research on stress responses related to the effects of general anesthetics and other agents.

Keywords: Anesthetics, Stress Response, Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, ER, Unfolded Protein Response, UPR, Heat Shock Protein Response

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