Protective effect of etomidate on kainic acid-induced neurotoxicity in rat hippocampus.

The goal of this study was to determine whether etomidate has protective effect against kainic acid (KA)-induced neurotoxicity. Administration of etomidate (20 mg/kg i.p.) was performed in sequence, first being just 1 h after KA (10 mg/kg i.p.) injection, then three times at 1-h intervals. Neuronal damages in hippocampus were evaluated by using the acid fuchsin stain to detect cell death and the heat shock protein-70 (HSP-70) induction as an index of cell injury at 24 h after the administration of KA. HSP-70 induction and acid fuchsin positive neurons were increased in CA1 and CA3 regions of hippocampus after KA injection but significantly decreased by etomidate-injection. These results suggest that the etomidate hold potential effect on the protection of neurons against KA-induced neurotoxicity.