Cellular components of the innate and adaptive arms of the immune response have been reported to be differentially affected by volatile and intravenous anesthetics and, consequently, might influence the patient’s recovery in the postoperative period in different ways. Although the literature reports the effects of anesthetics on virtually all cell types present in circulation, studying their effects on dendritic cells is particularly attractive. Thus, the present study aims to evaluate the effects of two anesthetics - sevoflurane (volatile) and propofol (intravenous) - on the frequency of different cell types found in the blood and, especially, on the differentiation and function of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDC). Although the sample size is still limited (propofol (n=5) and sevoflurane (n=4)), some consistent findings were observed and point to possible cellular effects by which these agents may modulate immune responses in the perioperative period. The analysis of moDC by flow cytometry revealed that propofol and sevoflurane appear to differ on their effects upon dendritic-cell surface phenotype in a stimulus and time-dependent manner. Activation signals (TNF-α, LPS, or poli:IC) and time of blood collection (pre-anesthesia, during surgery and after anesthesia recovery) did have a direct influence on the expression of HLA-DR, CD80, CD83 and CD86. Propofol produced relatively modest changes in HLA-DR, CD80, CD83 and CD86 expression, whereas sevoflurane was associated with more pronounced and heterogeneous changes, particularly in CD83 and HLA-DR expression. Furthermore, we challenged autologous lymphocytes using either inactivated BCG-pulsed moDC or moDC derived under TNF-α. Preliminary data indicates that changes induced by anesthesia affect not only moDC’s surface phenotype bur also their lymphostimulatory capacity. This project is supported by FAPESP (2024/10411-2).
Keywords: Anesthesia, Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells, Immunomodulation.