-Review-

Actions of Propofol on Neurons in the Cerebral Cortex

Masayuki Kobayashi^1-3 and Yoshiyuki Oi^4,5

¹Department of Pharmacology, Nihon University School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan
²Division of Oral and Craniomaxillofacial Research, Dental Research Center, Nihon University School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan
³RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, Kobe, Japan
⁴Department of Anesthesiology, Nihon University School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan
⁵Division of Immunology and Pathobiology, Dental Research Center, Nihon University School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan

Propofol is primarily a hypnotic, and is widely used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia, as well as for sedation in various medical procedures. The exact mechanisms of its action are not well understood, although its neural mechanisms have been explored in in vivo and in vitro experiments. Accumulating evidence indicates that one of the major targets of propofol is the cerebral cortex. The principal effect of propofol is considered to be the potentiation of GABA_A receptor-mediated inhibitory synaptic currents, but propofol has additional roles in modulating ion channels, including voltage-gated Na⁺ channels and several K⁺ channels. We focus on the pharmacological actions of propofol on cerebrocortical neurons, particularly at the cellular and synaptic levels.

J Nippon Med Sch 2017; 84: 165-169

Keywords
neocortex, synaptic transmission, ion current, anesthetics

Correspondence to
Masayuki Kobayashi, DDS, PhD, Department of Pharmacology, Nihon University School of Dentistry, 1-8-13 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8310, Japan
kobayashi.masayuki@nihon-u.ac.jp

Received, May 18, 2017
Accepted, July 19, 2017