Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026
A Reproducible Intensive Care Unit-Oriented Endotoxin Model in Rats
Published on: February 20, 2021
Propofol improves endothelial dysfunction and attenuates vascular superoxide production in septic rats
Huang-Ping Yu1, Ping-Wing Lui, Tsann-Long Hwang
1Department of Anesthesiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan.
Objective:
To determine the effects of propofol on vascular functions, plasma and endothelium-derived nitric oxide (EDNO), vascular NO, and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), as well as vascular production of superoxide anion (O2*-), in septic animals.
Design:
Prospective, multiexperimental, randomized, controlled studies.
Setting:
University research laboratory.
Subjects:
Male adult Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 350-400 g.
Interventions:
Cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), with and without propofol (25 mg/kg/hr) infusion, after sham or CLP (24 hrs postsurgery).
Measurements And Main Results:
Plasma NOx, basal aortic NOx, and cGMP concentrations all increased, whereas acetylcholine-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation (EDR), contractile response, and EDNO all decreased in CLP vs. sham rats (p < .001). Acetylcholine stimulated aortic NOx and cGMP significantly in sham and CLP-propofol (p < .01) but not CLP rats. Thus, propofol ameliorated the CLP-induced increases in plasma NOx, basal aortic NOx, and cGMP. It restored the CLP-induced impairment of EDR, EDNO, and acetylcholine-stimulated aortic NOx and cGMP levels. More O2*- production (measured by lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence) was noted in carotid arteries from CLP vs. sham rats (p < .001). Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH; 1 mM) stimulated O2*- production in all rings, with significantly more increase in CLP vs. sham (p < .001). Propofol attenuated the excessive increase in O2*- production of CLP rings.
Conclusions:
Propofol treatment attenuated the overproduction of NO and O2*-, thus restoring the acetylcholine-responsive NO-cGMP pathway in CLP-induced sepsis. It also significantly improved the CLP-impaired EDR and EDNO in a parallel manner. These beneficial effects of propofol could be accounted for by improvement of the disturbed NO/O2*- balance in sepsis.
