Mechanical ventilation can cause brain damage through dopamine induced apoptosis in hippocampus

Triggers Hippocampal Apoptosis by Vagal and Dopaminergic Pathways
-Adrián González-López, Inés López-Alonso, et al.
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Volume 188, Issue 6, 15 September 2013.
Researchers find why ICU ventilation can cause brain damage
-Medical News Today, 26 September 2013.

Excerpts:

• Patients who have been mechanically ventilated in intensive care units have long been known to suffer some form of mental impairment as a result. Now, researchers have uncovered a molecular mechanism that may explain why this happens.
• In comparison with the control mice, the mice on ventilation showed evidence of neuronal cell death in the hippocampus as a result of apoptosis - the process of programmed cell death. The research team discovered that the apoptosis process was caused by dopamine-induced suppression of Akt - a molecule that usually prevents neuronal apoptosis.
• The research team discovered that the apoptosis process was caused by dopamine-induced suppression of Akt - a molecule that usually prevents neuronal apoptosis.