Anesthetic neurotoxicity: Apoptosis and autophagic cell death mediated by calcium dysregulation.

A number of findings suggested that general anesthetics induced neural cell death by apoptosis in various animal models. Although clinical evidence regarding the correlation between anesthetic exposures at young age and subsequent cognitive impairments remains unclear, repeated or consistent exposures to general anesthetics may be a potential harmful risk in developing human brains. The mechanisms underlying the anesthetic neurotoxicity have received extensive attention recently. We will attempt a brief review to summarize current understanding on the role of both apoptosis and autophagic cell death mediated by calcium dysregulation in anesthetic neurotoxicity.