RESUMEN
This clinical study was done to explore the changes in oxidative system in RBCs from surgical patients anaesthetized with propofol. We studied 40 patients who were divided into two groups 20 patients each. Group I was induced by 4 mg/kg iv. thiopental followed by halothane for maintenance. Group II was induced by 2 mg/kg iv. propofol, followed by iv. infusion of propofol for one hour to maintain anaesthesia. We measured the following variables in RBCs: glutathione content, oxidized glutathione, glutathione peroxidase and lastly serum selenium. We found that propofol decreased oxidized glutathione from 10.24 +/- 0.4 to 9.1 +/- 0.6 micro g/ml [p < 0.05] and increased the other three variables after bolus dose and iv. infusion from [638 +/- 7.5 to 676 +/- 10 micro g/ml] [29.6 +/- 1.9 to 30.9 +/- 2.2 micro g/g Hb] [12.5 +/- 6.68 to 13.9 +/- 9 micro g/dl] [p < 0.05]. Thiopental did not modify any of the variables. In conclusion, the findings showed that propofol has an antioxidant effect in humans, this effect may be beneficial in patients who have diseases in which free radicals play an important role