Effect of Anesthesia on a Whole Blood Lymphocyte Proliferation Assay in the Rat

Abstract

Lymphocyte proliferation assays are commonly used to quantify the effects of immunosuppressive drugs in animal models, but the influence of anesthetic agents on those assays is not well understood. We used a whole blood proliferation assay to compare lymphocyte proliferation in blood drawn from normal male Lewis rats that were sedated using three common methods. Rats (n = 12) were serially bled from the orbital plexus while anesthetized with diethyl ether, methoxyflurane, or carbon dioxide. Before the beginning of the anesthetic trials, a random subset of the rats (n = 6) was bled via the jugular vein using only manual restraint to provide a baseline control group. A comparison of the lymphocyte proliferation results obtained under these four conditions (manual restraint, diethyl ether, methoxyflurane, or CO2) showed no significant differences. The only hematological variation seen was an elevation of the number of circulating lymphocytes when ether was used. We conclude that there is no justification for withholding sedation when bleeding rats for this type of lymphocyte proliferation. Furthermore, when considering the use of one of the agents examined in this study, the method can be chosen based on factors other than potential adverse effects on the assay results.

Immunosuppressive effects of surgery assessed by flow cytometry in nonhuman primates after nephrectomy

“…General anesthesia is one of these factors. Previous studies indicate that anesthesia has either no effect on lymphocyte proliferation [28] or that some anesthetics have an inhibitory effect which is limited to 48 h after anesthesia [29]. As the anesthetics in our study were not the same as in these studies, this question remains unclear but is of limited relevance, because surgery and anesthesia will always be used together, at least in major surgery.…”

Mitogen‐induced responses in lymphocytes from platypus, the Tasmanian devil and the eastern barred bandicoot

“…Diurnal variations in lymphocyte proliferation are common, 24 and exercise has also been reported to affect proliferation 25 . Anaesthesia may be a factor, although other commonly used anaesthetics do not affect the proliferative response in other species 26 . We noted that the variability was greatly reduced in bandicoots that had been held in captivity for several weeks.…”

Determination of hematological and biochemical values blood parameters for European bison (Bison bonasus)

“…In addition, our study did not take into account the possible pregnancy in cows, which could have caused a change in some blood parameters. Another limitation can be the effect of anesthesia on blood cell counts and plasma biochemical values which has been described in other species [66][67][68]. Despite the above limitation, our study presents blood parameters carried out for the first time on a group of healthy animals, using robust analytical methods, which provides a basis for their use.…”