Fig 3.

Long-term deficits in behavioural task performance after neonatal exposure to LPS, sevoflurane, or both. (a, b) Bar graphs show performance in Y-maze behavioural task in 5-week-old male and female rats, respectively, treated as neonates with LPS, sevoflurane, or both. There were persistent spatial working memory deficits in LPS+sevoflurane treated male, but not in female, rats. (c, d) Bar graphs showing performance of contextual fear conditioning behavioural task in 6- to 8-week-old male and female rats, respectively, after neonatal treatment with LPS, sevoflurane, or both. These data indicate impaired associative memory after neonatal LPS+sevoflurane treatment in male, but not in female, rats. (e, f) In the elevated zero maze, an anxiety-related paradigm, no significant differences were noted in duration of open arm exploration in males (e), whereas LPS+sevoflurane treated females spent much less time in the open sections of the arena (f), indicative of heightened anxiety-related behaviour in females only. No differences were observed in LPS or sevoflurane treated animals. Data shown as mean (sem). One-way anova + Tukey's post hoc, ∗P<0.05, ∗∗P<0.01. anova, analysis of variance; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; sem, standard error of the mean; Sevo, sevoflurane.