Exposure to lidocaine in early life does not cause negative long-term behavioural changes in mice

BackgroundThe local anaesthetic lidocaine is widely used in the neonatal intensive unit to treat seizures in premature babies. However, other antiepileptics administered during early development in various animal models have shown negative long-term behavioural effects. Since no long-term behavioural data so far exist regarding lidocaine exposure at an early age, we decided to perform this extended follow-up study using a sensitive behavioural test.MethodsNeonatal mice received a subcutaneous administration of saline or one dose of lidocaine (0.5, 4, or 12 mg kg-1) on postnatal day 10 (P10; peak of the Brain Growth Spurt). A well-established test to detect long-term behavioural alterations was conducted at 2 and 6 months of age, corresponding to early and late adulthood in humans.ResultsAll animal survived to later testing. No signs of acute toxicity were observed. Lidocaine exposure did not result in any negative behavioural effects during habituation to a new home environment at any of the two studied time points, compared to saline placebo.ConclusionsLidocaine does not by itself produce any negative long-term behavioural effects in mice exposed in early life (P10) despite long-term follow-up. This is reassuring regarding the current practice of treating seizures in premature babies with intravenous lidocaine.