Onay V, Erdost HA, Ocmen E, Akan P, Gunenc F, et al., (2016) Day and Night Administration of Sevolurane Effect of Melatonin Levels in Rats. Int J Anesth Res. 4(10), 343-347. 243 OPEN ACCESS http://scidoc.org/IJAR.php International Journal of Anesthesiology & Research (IJAR) ISSN 2332-2780 Day and Night Administration of Sevolurane Effect of Melatonin Levels in Rats Research Article Onay V 1 , Erdost HA 1* , Ocmen E 1 , Akan P 2 , Gunenc F 1 , Arkan A 1 , Gokmen AN 1 1 Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey. 2 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey. *Corresponding Author: Hale Aksu Erdost, MD, Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, 35340, Izmir, Turkey. Tel: +90 232 4122801 Fax: 232 4122846 E-mail: haleaksu78@yahoo.com Received: September 27, 2016 Accepted: October 22, 2016 Published: October 26, 2016 Citation: Onay V, Erdost HA, Ocmen E, Akan P, Gunenc F, et al., (2016) Day and Night Administration of Sevolurane Effect of Melatonin Levels in Rats. Int J Anesth Res. 4(10), 343-347. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.19070/2332-2780-1600071 Copyright: Erdost HA © 2016. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction Use of general anesthesia to prematures and young children is a part of modern anesthesiology. General anesthetics are usually considered safe, however some recent animal studies allude to anesthetic agents may be harming the immature developing brain. It has been recently shown that frequently used general anesthetics such as benzodiazepines, barbiturates, ketamine, isolurane and nitrous oxide exposure of the immature rat brain, may cause massive neuronal death [1]. It has been indicated that in anesthesia-induced apoptotic neurodegeneration, mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathway plays an important role. By up-regulating bcl-XL, which in turn inhibits cytocrome c release and caspase-3 activation, thus blocking the apoptotic cascade activation, melatonin provided a signiicant neuroprotection (up to 90%) of the developing neurons [2]. Melatonin (N-acetyl-5 methoxytryptamine), is secreted by the pineal gland. The relation between darkness and melatonin secretion indicates the correlation between melatonin, sleep and the circadian rhythm. Neural stimulation from the suprachiasmatic nucleus melatonin secretion varies in response to this stimuli, and it also has receptor-mediated effects on neural and peripheral tissues [3, 4]. Melatonin has several important physiological functions, including regulation of the reproductive axis, regulation of circadian rhythms, oncostatic, antioxidant, anticonvulsant and anti-inlammatory effects [5, 6]. As melatonin has high antioxidant properties, rescuing from both hydroxyl radical and peroxyl radical [7]. Also melatonin has a hypotermic effect, reduces secondary Abstract Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sevolurane anesthesia in day/night cycles on mela- tonin levels in rats. Methods: Fifteen-day-old 24 rats were included in the study and randomized into four groups according to anesthetic (sevolurane or control) and the timing of administration (night phase or day phase). 2.6 % sevolurane and 6 L.min-1 of oxygen were delivered to rats, between 07:00 pm-01:00 am (night group) and 07:00 am-01:00 pm (day group). After the sac- riication of the rats, blood samples were taken and samples were centrifuged and plasma melatonin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. Results: When Group night sevolurane (GN-S) was compared with Group night control (GN-C), signiicant difference was found on melatonin levels (p=0,002). When plasma melatonin levels were compared between Group day sevolu- rane (GD-S) and Group day control (GD-C), melatonin level of Group Day sevolurane was found signiicantly higher (p=0.002). Similarly, when plasma melatonin levels were compared between GN-C and GD-C groups, melatonin level of GN-C was found signiicantly higher (p=0.002). Conclusions: In this study, it has been ascertained that 2.6% sevolurane administered for six hours during the day and night periods increased melatonin levels signiicantly in 15 days old rats. Keywords: Melatonin; Sevolurane; Anesthesia.