Effects of anesthesia with sevoflurane on outcome parameters in murine experimental studies

Multiple murine studies modelling the immuno-pathophysiological consequences of trauma, shock, burn or sepsis were performed during the last decades. Almost every animal model requires anesthesia for practical and ethical reasons. Furthermore, often, corresponding control groups involve untreated animals without or with a limited exposure to anesthetics. However, the influences of anesthetic drugs on immuno-pathophysiological reactions remain insufficiently investigated. Therefore, we aimed to closer characterize the anesthetic impact exemplified by sevoflurane on the organ performance in mice and thereby investigate the influence of anesthesia itself on major outcome parameters in animal studies.

C57/BL6 mice were subjected either to 270 min of sevoflurane narcosis or directly euthanized. Plasma, BAL-fluids, lungs, kidneys, liver and intestine were collected and examined for immunological, functional and morphological changes.

Systemic levels of the cytokine keratinocyte chemoattractant (KC) were raised in the narcosis group, while concentrations of high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB-1) as a major inflammatory marker were reduced. In the lungs, levels of HMGB-1 and interleukin 6 (IL-6) were reduced. In contrast, systemic concentrations of intestinal fatty acid binding-protein (i-FABP) as an intestinal damage marker were elevated. Furthermore, liver-type fatty acid binding-protein (L-FABP) levels were lower in the narcosis animals, and inflammatory markers were reduced in liver tissues. Anesthesia also ameliorated the inflammatory reaction in renal tissues, while plasma levels of urea and creatinine were elevated, reflecting either dehydration and/or impaired renal function.

As anesthesia with sevoflurane exhibited distinct effects in different organs, it is difficult to predict its specific impact on targets of interest in in vivo studies. Therefore, further studies are required to clarify the effects of different anesthetic drugs. Overall, the inclusion of a control group subjected to the same anesthesia protocol as the experimental groups of interest seems helpful to precisely define the inherent impact of the anesthetic when investigating immuno-pathophysiologic conditions in vivo.