Most anesthetics have an immuno-suppressive effect on cellular and neurohumoral immunity,
and research shows that total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) with propofol has a greater
immuno-protective effect than inhalational anesthesia in human medicine. However, in
veterinary clinics, these effects remain ambiguous. To clarify the details, we focused on
propofol and isoflurane, investigating clinical blood hematology and immunological
profiles drawn from healthy dogs under and after two anesthesia techniques. Twelve healthy
adult beagles were included in this study, randomly assigned to the propofol anesthesia
group (group P: n=6) or the isoflurane anesthesia group (group I: n=6). In both groups,
the number of lymphocytes in peripheral blood decreased after 2 hr of anesthesia (2 hr),
but group P showed significantly less decrease than group I. For T-lymphocyte subsets
examined by flowcytometry, the ratio of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes in the peripheral
blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) of group P at 2 hr also exhibited a high level compared to
group I. Moreover, for mRNA expression of cytokines measured by real-time PCR, the IL2
(pro-inflammatory cytokine) of group P showed no decrease like group I. The IL10
(anti-inflammatory cytokine) of group P also showed no increase like group I, while both
cytokines maintained nearly the same level until 2 hr. These results suggest that,
compared to propofol, isoflurane had more strongly immuno-suppression caused by
anesthesia, and propofol itself might have some immuno-protective effects. Thus, TIVA with
propofol might benefit immunological support in the perioperative period of dogs.
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