Fig. 2. Anesthesia with 2.5% sevoflurane for 2 h in pregnant mice at G14 increases IL-6 levels, decreases PSD-95 levels, and induces caspase-3 activation in the brain tissues of fetal mice. (A ) Sevoflurane anesthesia increases IL-6 levels in the brain tissues of fetal mice as compared with the control condition on Western blot analysis. There is no statistically significant difference in the amounts of β-actin in the mouse brain tissues following the sevoflurane anesthesia or control condition. (B ) Quantification of the Western blot shows that sevoflurane anesthesia increases IL-6 levels in the mouse brain tissues as compared with the control condition (*P = 0.026). (C ) The sevoflurane anesthesia reduces PSD-95 levels in the brain tissues of fetal mice as compared with the control condition on Western blot analysis. There is no statistically significant difference in the amounts of β-actin in the mouse brain tissues following the sevoflurane anesthesia or control condition. (D ) Quantification of the Western blot shows that sevoflurane anesthesia reduces PSD-95 levels in the mouse brain tissues as compared with the control condition (*P = 0.036). (E ) The sevoflurane anesthesia induces caspase-3 activation in the brain tissues of fetal mice as compared with the control condition on Western blot analysis. There is no significant difference in the amounts of β-actin in the mouse brain tissues following the sevoflurane anesthesia or control condition. (F ) Quantification of the Western blot shows that sevoflurane anesthesia induces caspase-3 activation in the mouse brain tissues as compared with the control condition (**P = 0.0075). FL = full length (n = 6 per arm); IL-6 = interleukin-6; PSD = postsynaptic density-95.