Comparison of effects of anaesthesia with desflurane and enflurane on liver function.

INTRODUCTION: Although most general anaesthesia procedures are performed without any complications, volatile agents may have adverse effects on various living systems. This study aimed to compare the effects of desflurane and enflurane on liver function. METHODS: 40 patients, who were in the ASA I-III risk groups and were planned to undergo head and neck surgery of at least three hours' duration, were randomly divided into two groups: the desflurane (Group D) and enflurane groups (Group E). Venous blood samples (5 ml) of the patients were obtained before anaesthesia induction, in the postoperative first hour and on the first and seventh days. The samples were centrifuged and then stored at -80 degrees Celsius until the determination of glutathione S-transferase (GST) levels. For maintenance of anaesthesia in Group D, desflurane (6 percent) was used, while in Group E, enflurane (1.2 percent) was used. RESULTS: GST levels were significantly higher in Group E in the postoperative first hour (p-value is 0.002), and on the first day (p-value is 0.025) and seventh day (p-value is 0.035), although there were no differences preoperatively (p-value is more than 0.05). When postoperative levels were compared with preoperative levels, the postoperative GST levels of Group E were significantly higher (first hour [p-value is 0.008], first day [p-value is 0.010], seventh day [p-value is 0.038]). CONCLUSION: Subclinical hepatic injury after anaesthesia continues to be an issue of interest, particularly with the development of new, more sensitive methods of measuring GST levels. The increase in GST concentration after anaesthesia is thought to be a result of reduced hepatic blood flow. This study has shown that desflurane has fewer effects than enflurane on liver function tests in lengthy operations of up to 330 minutes.

The effect of taurine on renal ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is one of the most common causes of renal dysfunction. Taurine is an endogenous antioxidant and a membrane-stabilizing, intracellular, free beta-amino acid. It has been demonstrated to have protective effects against I/R injuries to tissues other than kidney. The aim of this study was to determine whether taurine has a beneficial role in renal I/R injury. Forty Wistar-Albino rats were allocated into four groups as follows: sham, taurine, I/R, and I/R+taurine. Taurine 7.5 mg/kg was given intra-peritoneally to rats in the groups taurine and I/R+taurine. Renal I/R was achieved by occluding the renal arteries bilaterally for 40 min, followed by 6 h of reperfusion. Immediately thereafter, blood was drawn and tissue samples were harvested to measure 1) serum levels of BUN and creatinine; 2) serum and/or tissue levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6PD), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGD) and glutathione reductase (GSH-red); 3) renal morphology; and 4) immunohistochemical staining for P-selectin. Taurine administration reduced I/R-induced increases in serum BUN and creatinine, and serum and tissue MDA levels (p<0.05). Additionally, taurine lessened the reductions in serum and tissue glutathione levels secondary to I/R (p<0.05). Taurine also attenuated histopathologic evidence of renal injury, and reduced I/R-induced P-selectin immunoreactivity (p<0.05). Overall, then, taurine administration appears to reduce the injurious effects of I/R on kidney.