ABSTRACT
The effect of sevoflurane anesthesia with or without induced hypotension on hepatocellular integrity was studied. Forty adult consented patients scheduled for various urological procedures were allocated randomly to either NTG group [nitroglycerin-induced hypotension] or a control group of twenty patients each. Anesthesia was induced and maintained by fentanyl, sevoflurane and vecuronium in both groups. In NTG group, nitro-glycerin infusion was adjusted to maintain mean arterial pressure [MAP] of 50-65 mm Hg. Specific and sensitive hepatic biomarkers; alpha [alpha] and pi [pi] glutathione S-transferases [GST] and hyaluronic acid [HA], also traditional liver enzymes; aspartate [AST] and alanine [ALT] aminotransferases were measured at: TO [pre-induction], T1, T2, T3 [15, 30 and 60 minutes after MAP stabilization respectively] and T4 [24 hours after anesthesia end]. Plasma alpha-GST significantly increased at T3 in control group [p < 0.05] and in NTG group [p < 0.01] compared to T0 in same group. In NTG group, hyaluronic acid con-centrations was significantly increased at T1, T2 [p < 0.05] and T3 [p < 0.01] from T0. Compared to control group, alpha- GST and HA concentrations showed significant increases in NTG group at T3 with p < 0.05 then returned back to normal range at T4. But, pi-GST, AST and ALT showed no significant changes throughout the study in both groups