BACKGROUND: It is evident that inhalational anesthetics, such as nitrous oxide, possess a certain degree of myelodepressive effect in humans. However, unlike nitrous oxide, propofol is frequently recommended for the anesthesia of oncologic patients or for harvesting bone marrow from donors. To evaluate the possible toxicity of propofol on hematopoietic stem cells, the in vitro sensitivity of colony growth to propofol was assessed using murine clonogenic hematopoietic progenitor cells.

METHODS: Femoral and tibial marrow cells were obtained from 4- to 6-week-old male BALB/c mice. Propofol was diluted in culture medium (30µM, 300µM and 1 mM) and added into methylcellulose semi-solid culture media. After 14 days of culturing, the numbers of colony-forming unit granulocyte/monocyte (CFU-GM) colonies were counted. An advance liquid culture (RPMI 1640) of 5 hours duration was also applied prior to culturing in semisolid media to assess the short term exposure toxicity.

RESULTS: The colony counts were significantly decreased compared to the control at higher concentrations than 1 mM (P<0.05). The pre-exposure to propofol did not affect the number CFU-GM colony count at the concentrations of 30µM and 300µM or under conditions of co-culture.

CONCLUSIONS: No myelodepressive effect was observed in mouse bone marrow cells with exposure of propofol at concentrations under 300µM.