Clinical immunology and immunopathology
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Clin. Immunol. Immunopathol. · May 1997
The effects of general anesthesia on human peripheral immune cell distribution and cytokine production.
Anesthetic agents are believed to have an adverse effect on human immune defense mechanisms. We investigated changes in peripheral immune cell numbers such as natural killer (NK) cells, B cells, and T lymphocyte subpopulations (CD4+ and CD8+ cells) and differences in cytokine production after stimulation with different mitogens before and during narcosis. We studied 30 patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgery. ⋯ After the beginning of surgery, CD8-positive cells showed a return to control values and NK cell number increased slightly. These findings suggest that general anesthesia interferes with immune cell number and immune cell response. This may explain the clinically well-recognized disturbance of human immunity after surgery and general anesthesia.