Abstract: Objective    To explore the effect of miR-181a on the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons induced by sevoflurane and its mechanism.  Methods  The relationship between miR-181a and silent information regulator 1 (sirt1) was verified. The effect of sevoflurane on miR-181a expression and apoptosis in hippocampal neurons was detected. Hippocampal neurons were transfected with 3% sevoflurane Alkane treatment for 4 h. They were divided into the following group: a blank group, a miR-NC group, a miR-181a group, an anti-miR-NC group, an anti-miR-181a group, an anti-miR-NC+si-NC group, an anti-miR-181a +si-NC group and an anti-miR-181a+si-sirt1 group. The expression of sirt1, nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), sirt1 protein, miR-181a and apoptosis of cells in each group were detected. The changes of neuronal apoptosis in hippocampus were detected after sevoflurane treatment or simultaneous inhibition of miR-181a and sirt1 expression by in vivo experiments.    Results   miR-181a regulated the expression of sirt1 by targeting. After sevoflurane treatment, the expression of miR-181a and the apoptosis rate in hippocampal neurons increased (P<0.05). Up-regulation of miR-181a inhibited the expression of sirt1 protein and promoted the expression of NF-κB protein, while inhibiting miR-181a showed the opposite trend (P<0.05). In vivo and in vitro experiments confirmed that silencing sirt1 attenuated the inhibitory effect of down-regulated miR-181a on sevoflurane-induced apoptosis in hippocampal neurons.  Conclusions Silencing miR-181a inhibits hippocampal neuronal apoptosis by activating the sirt1/NF-κB pathway in hippocampal neurons treated with sevoflurane.

Key words: Sevoflurane,  ,  , Hippocampal neurons,  ,  , Silent information regulator 1,  ,  ,  , Apoptosis