Isoflurane Elevates Brain Lactate in a Dose-Dependent Manner: A Localized 1H MRS Study of Mouse Brain In Vivo

Susann Boretius¹, Roland Tammer^1,2, Thomas Michaelis¹, Jens Frahm¹

Volatile anesthetic drugs like isoflurane are widely used in animal research and human medicine. Here, we evaluated the influence of isoflurane on brain lactate and other cerebral metabolites in comparison to intravenous anesthetic drugs using in vivo localized proton MRS of healthy mice. Isoflurane provoked a reversible dose-dependent elevation of lactate concentrations, which was accompanied by increases of alanine, reductions of glucose, and a shift from phosphocreatine towards creatine. These findings may be of crucial importance not only for animal studies of brain metabolism, but also for human anesthesiology.