Prevention of Anesthetic-Induced Neurocognitive Dysfunction

Unmet Need
Every year in the United States more than one million children under the age of five undergo a surgical procedure that requires anesthesia. Children who have had multiple early exposures to anesthesia are at greater risk of developing learning disabilities and disorders of attention and anxiety. Additionally, animal models that are exposed to inhaled anesthetics develop long-term deficits in cognition. Thus, it is of an urgent need to identify treatments to protect against these cognitive effects, as delaying surgical procedures and forgoing anesthesia are not viable options for these cases.
 
Technology Overview
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that a single dose of Molsidomine prevents cognitive impairment and plasticity defects in the hippocampus following inhaled anesthesia. Molsidomine is a nitric oxide (NO) donor and counteracts the effects of anesthesia-related disruptions to the PDZ domain-mediated protein-protein interactions. Disruptions in these protein-protein interactions lead to changes in dendritic spine morphology, synaptic plasticity, and cognitive function, as measured by histological changes, long term potentiation and recognition memory.  
 
Stage of Development
The inventors have conducted pre-clinical trials in neonatal mice that show that Molsidomine is able to mitigate hippocampal defects caused by early inhaled anesthetic exposure.
 
Publications
Schaefer ML, et al. Anesthesiology 130, 247-262, 2019

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