Various aspects of immunological homeostasis are affected by anesthesia and surgery, including the function of immunocompetent cells and the modulation of stress responses. To evaluate immunologic changes that occurred following propofol and enflurane anesthesia, we evaluated the proliferative responsiveness of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in patients undergoing laparoscopic gynecologic surgery.

PBMC were isolated from patients prior to anesthesia and on the first postoperative day (n = 10). The proliferative response was then evaluated based on the level of 5-bromo-2-deoxyunridine (BrdU) incorporation that occurred during DNA synthesisafter the induction of mitogenic stimulation by treatment with 1 µg/ml lipopolysaccharides (LPS). To accomplish this, cell proliferation was assayed by enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA), after which a stimulation index was calculated.

Although the calculated stimulation index decreased in response to both propofol and enflurane anesthesia, the stimulation index did not differ significantly between groups. However, following stimulation with LPS, the stimulation index was significantly higher in the enflurane group than in the propofol group (P < 0.05).

Propofol and enflurane anesthesia inhibit the PBMC proliferation. However, the decrease in proliferation that occurred in response to enflurane was attenuated by LPS.