Fig 3.

Western blot analysis showed that sevoflurane exposure induced an increase in cleaved caspase-3, but a reduction in the nNOS at P7. (a and b) Samples were obtained from the hippocampi of rats subjected to air (control, lanes 1–4) or sevoflurane treatment (lanes 2–5, respectively) at 0, 2, 6, and 24 h after treatment. Representative graphs of the effects of sevoflurane on cleaved caspase-3 and nNOS levels are shown. (c) Expression of cleaved caspase-3 in the sevoflurane group was significantly higher than that in the control group at each time point. The highest levels of cleaved caspase-3 expression occurred at 6 h, then 2, 0, and 24 h after sevoflurane exposure. There was no significant difference between each time point. (d) The expression of nNOS in the sevoflurane group at 24 h after exposure was significantly lower than that in the control group. The lowest level of nNOS occurred at 24 h, which was significantly lower than at other time points. There were no differences between each control group. (c and d) ^•P<0.05 vs control, 0 h; ^○P<0.05 vs control, 2 h; ^▪P<0.05 vs control, 6 h; ^▾P<0.05 vs control, 24 h; and ^▴P<0.05 vs sevoflurane, 0 h; ^□P<0.05 vs sevoflurane, 2 h; ^◊P<0.05 vs sevoflurane, 6 h.