Özet:

Aim: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is usually seen in the aged patients in postoperative period. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of melatonin on cognitive and synaptic dysfunction and oxidative stress in POCD model constructed by abdominal surgery in aged rats. Material and Methods: Twenty months old male Wistar rats were randomly allocated into the control group, melatonin treated-control group, surgery group and melatonin treated-surgery group. The novel object recognition test (NORT) was used to assess the postoperative cognitive ability of rats at the end of the experiments. The contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) were evaluated in the synaptosomes of hippocampus by spectrophotometric methods. The protein levels of calcium-calmodulin dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD95) were measured by using ELISA. . Results: Animals in surgery group showed significant an impairment of novel object recognition memory in NORT. Surgery group also exhibited increased content of MDA (21.05±3.96) and decreased levels of GSH (5.86±0.26) and PSD95 (156.04±2.56) in the hippocampus (respectively p=0.012, p<0.001, p=0.004) . The levels of PSD95 (193.08±4.14) and CaMKII (2.82±0.25) (respectively p=0.027, p=0.041) and novel object recognition memory was improved by melatonin treatment. Conclusion: Melatonin may be a potential therapeutic agent which can protect against abdominal surgery- induced cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients.

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