TY - JOUR
T1 - Narcotic-induced suppression of natural killer cell activity in ventilated and nonventilated rats
AU - Beilin, Benzion
AU - Shavit, Yehuda
AU - Cohn, Sergiu
AU - Kedar, Eli
PY - 1992/8
Y1 - 1992/8
N2 - Surgical stress and general anesthesia can suppress immune function and thus may increase postsurgical infections and tumor metastasis. We previously reported that two narcotics commonly used in high-dose opiate anesthesia (fentanyl and sufentanil) suppress natural killer (NK) cell activity in rats. Such doses of narcotics also cause respiratory depression accompanied by hypoxia, hypercarbia, and acidosis, which might account for the observed narcotic-induced NK suppression. In the present study, we compared the effects of fentanyl on NK activity in ventilated and non-ventilated rats. Fentanyl significantly suppressed NK cell activity to the same magnitude in the two groups, although the groups significantly differed in CO2 and O2 levels. The fact that high-dose fentanyl-induced NK suppression can be demonstrated in ventilated rats accentuates the relevance of these findings to clinical studies showing NK suppression in the immediate postoperative period. Such immunosuppression could be a risk factor for patients undergoing surgery, especially in cancer-related operations.
AB - Surgical stress and general anesthesia can suppress immune function and thus may increase postsurgical infections and tumor metastasis. We previously reported that two narcotics commonly used in high-dose opiate anesthesia (fentanyl and sufentanil) suppress natural killer (NK) cell activity in rats. Such doses of narcotics also cause respiratory depression accompanied by hypoxia, hypercarbia, and acidosis, which might account for the observed narcotic-induced NK suppression. In the present study, we compared the effects of fentanyl on NK activity in ventilated and non-ventilated rats. Fentanyl significantly suppressed NK cell activity to the same magnitude in the two groups, although the groups significantly differed in CO2 and O2 levels. The fact that high-dose fentanyl-induced NK suppression can be demonstrated in ventilated rats accentuates the relevance of these findings to clinical studies showing NK suppression in the immediate postoperative period. Such immunosuppression could be a risk factor for patients undergoing surgery, especially in cancer-related operations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0026703791&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0090-1229(92)90196-U
DO - 10.1016/0090-1229(92)90196-U
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C2 - 1643747
AN - SCOPUS:0026703791
SN - 0090-1229
VL - 64
SP - 173
EP - 176
JO - Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology
JF - Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology
IS - 2
ER -