Sex, drugs, and anaesthesia research

Olivia A Moody; Kathleen F Vincent; Ken Solt

doi:10.1016/j.bja.2021.06.025

Sex, drugs, and anaesthesia research

Br J Anaesth. 2021 Sep;127(3):340-343. doi: 10.1016/j.bja.2021.06.025. Epub 2021 Jul 28.

Authors

Olivia A Moody¹, Kathleen F Vincent¹, Ken Solt²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Anaesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
² Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Anaesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: ksolt@mgh.harvard.edu.

PMID: 34330415
DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2021.06.025

Abstract

In this issue of the British Journal of Anaesthesia, Joksimovic and colleagues report significant sex differences in sensitivity to the behavioural and neurophysiological effects of 3β-OH, a novel neurosteroid anesthetic. Female rats were more sensitive to the effects of 3β-OH than male rats, although the mechanims remain unclear. Sex differences have been understudied in anaesthesia research, and this article by Joksimovic and colleagues emphasizes the need to devote more effort to understanding these differences.

Keywords: anaesthetic pharmacology; electroencephalogram; hypnotic; neurosteroid; sex difference.

Publication types

Editorial
Comment

MeSH terms

Anesthesia*
Anesthetics* / pharmacology
Animals
Female
Male
Pharmaceutical Preparations*
Rats

Substances

Anesthetics
Pharmaceutical Preparations

Grants and funding

R01 GM126155/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States