Antioxidant Protection of Propofol and Its Recycling in Erythrocyte Membranes

Abstract

alpha-Tocopherol is a potent antioxidant that effectively protects biological membranes against oxidative injury through coordination with ascorbic acid. Because propofol has a phenolic structure similar to that of alpha-tocopherol, this intravenous anesthetic may also have similar antioxidant activity. To test this hypothesis, the effect of propofol on oxidative injury of human erythrocytes was examined. Propofol inhibited oxidative hemolysis and cis-parinaric acid oxidation in erythrocyte membranes (ED(50) = 6 microM). Although ascorbic acid alone has no appreciable effect, the protective effect of propofol was enhanced by ascorbic acid. An electron spin resonance (ESR) study showed that propofol-derived radicals (g = 2.005) were continuously generated during the oxidation of erythrocyte membranes by an ascorbic acid-inhibitable mechanism. These and other results suggest that propofol interacts with ascorbic acid, thereby exhibiting potent antioxidant activity in and around membranes as does alpha-tocopherol. Kinetic analysis revealed that propofol increased the membrane fluidity of erythrocytes, thereby increasing their resistance to physical and hemodynamic stress. Further, a greater preservation of red blood cell counts was seen after surgery with propofol compared with conventional sevoflurane anesthesia. Thus, propofol may protect erythrocytes against both oxidative and physical stress, indicating its potential as an efficient and safe antioxidant.

Does propofol alter membrane fluidity at clinically relevant concentrations? An ESR spin label study

“…2b). However, PPF concentrations ranging from 10 -4 to 10 -2 M clearly increased membrane fluidity, as already reported [3,36,38]. At the explored depths of 7.8 Å (5 DSA) and 27.7 Å (16 DSA), PPF exhibited a somewhat similar effect on membrane microviscosity.…”

Propofol and N-Acetylcysteine attenuate oxidative stress induced by intestinal ischemia/reperfusion in rats: Protein carbonyl detection by immunoblotting

“…Propofol, characterized by a phenolic structure similar to α-tocopherol, provides an enhancement in antioxidant efficacies and erythrocytes protection against oxidative damage that have been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo 7,15,16,17 . NAC, an attractive drug which has few side-effects, counteracts oxidative stress in many studies concerning I/R injury.…”

Hematologic changes in propofol-anesthetized dogs with or without tramadol administration

“…Several reports have demonstrated that propofol exhibits a perturbing action on the oxidantantioxidant state of T cells (Delogu et al, 2004) and has some greater potential for the reduction of oxidative stress in erythrocyte membranes than midazolam (Tsuchiya et al, 2001) Hence, this intravenous anesthetic, characterized by a phenolic structure similar to α-tocopherol, provides an enhancement in antioxidant efficacies and erythrocytes protection against oxidative damage (Tsuchiya et al, 2002;Volti et al, 2006). Many published studies have described using the combination of general anesthetic drugs with opioids to promote balanced anesthesia (Coetzee et al, 1996;Shipton et al, 2003).…”