mRNA Expression Level of IL-1β in Labial Mucosa Following Surgical Insult After Administration of Dexmedetomidine

Dexmedetomidine (DEX) can inhibit expression levels of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin 1β (IL-1β), which can cause pain and hyperalgesia. DEX has also been reported to prolong the duration and enhance the effect of local anesthesia when administered peripherally with local anesthetics. Therefore, DEX might enhance dental local anesthetics by inhibiting proinflammatory cytokine production. However, there is no current evidence supporting whether proinflammatory cytokines in the oral mucosa can be inhibited by DEX administration. Therefore, we aimed to assess whether DEX administration could inhibit proinflammatory cytokines by evaluating the IL-1β messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels in labial mucosal tissues following surgical insult.

Adult male Wistar rats (N = 15) were assigned to control, normal saline (NS), or 5 µg/kg DEX (1.25 µg DEX) administration groups. Following incision of the labial mucosa, NS or DEX solution was administered for 30 minutes. The control group underwent no surgical injury or solution administration. Samples were collected from the lower right labial mucosa from rats in the control and experimental groups and analyzed using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to determine IL-1β mRNA expression levels. One-way analysis of variance was used to evaluate the effects of DEX. The Tukey post hoc test was used to compare the relative expression levels of IL-1β mRNA among the groups (control, NS, and DEX).

IL-1β mRNA expression in the NS group was significantly higher vs the other groups (P < .001). IL-1β mRNA expression in the DEX group was higher vs the control group but lacked significance.

Our results showed that DEX administration can inhibit IL-1β mRNA expression in oral mucosal tissues caused by surgical insult.