Practical Geriatrics ›› 2022, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (7): 720-724.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1003-9198.2022.07.017

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Effect of intraspinal anesthesia on postoperative cognitive function and NLRP3 inflammasome in elderly patients undergoing hip replacement

ZHANG Chun-li, XU Zhi-xin, HUANG Yu-yuan, CHEN Ding-zhong   

  1. ZHANG Chun-li, XU Zhi-xin, HUANG Yu-yuan. Department of Anesthesia; CHEN Ding-zhong. Department of Orthopaedics, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou 570216, China
  • Received:2021-06-28 Online:2022-07-20 Published:2022-07-18

Abstract: Objective To explore the effects of intraspinal anesthesia on the postoperative cognitive function, nucleotidebinding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes in the elderly patients undergoing hip replacement surgery. Methods A total of 115 elderly patients who underwent elective hip replacement surgery in our hospital from September 2018 to April 2021 were selected. All the patients underwent intraspinal anesthesia. The Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to evaluate the cognitive function of the patients before and 3 days after operation. According to the occurrence of postoperative cognitive impairment, the patients were divided into cognitive impairment group and non-cognitive impairment group.The risk factors of postoperative cognitive impairment were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression analysis. The expressions of serum NLRP3 mRNA and cysteine-containing aspartate proteolytic enzyme 1 (Caspase-1) mRNA, and the levels of interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-8 of the two groups were compared before and 3 days after operation. The correlations of MMSE score with the expressions of NLRP3 mRNA and Caspase-1 mRNA and the levels of IL-1β and IL-8 were described by Pearson correlation coefficient. Results The postoperative MMSE score of the patients was significantly lower than that before operation (22.01±3.62 vs 27.45±1.01, P<0.001). The incidence rate of postoperative cognitive impairment was 30.43% (35/115). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that age≥68 years old, diabetes and hypotension during the operation were the risk factors for postoperative cognitive impairment, and education years≥7 years was the protective factor for postoperative cognitive impairment. After operation,the expressions of serum NLRP3 mRNA and Caspase-1 mRNA, and the levels of IL-1β and IL-8 in cognitive impairment group were higher than those before operation and those in non-cognitive impairment group (P<0.05). In non-cognitive impairment group, there were no statistically significant differences in the levels of the above indicators before and after operation (P>0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that postoperative MMSE score was negatively correlated with the expressions of serum NLRP3 mRNA and Caspase-1 mRNA and the levels of IL-1β and IL-8 (r=-0.601, -0.652, -0.501, -0.519, all P<0.05). Conclusions Intraspinal anesthesia has a certain influence on postoperative cognitive function of the elderly patients undergoing hip replacement surgery. The levels of NLRP3 inflammasome indexes in the patients with cognitive impairment after surgery are significantly increased, and the NLRP3 inflammasome-IL-1β signal axis may be involved in the occurrence of postoperative cognitive impairment.

Key words: hip replacement, aged, spinal anesthesia, cognitive function, nucleotidebinding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3, inflammasome

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