Effects of Anesthesia on Ozone-Induced Lung and Systemic Inflammation

Purpose Anesthetics are required for procedures that deliver drugs/biologics, infectious/inflammatory agents, and toxicants directly to the lungs. However, the possible confounding effects of anesthesia on lung inflammation and injury are underreported. Here, we evaluated the effects of two commonly used anesthetic regimens on lung inflammatory responses to ozone in mice. Methods We tested the effects of brief isoflurane (Iso) or ketamine/xylazine/atipamezole (K/X/A) anesthesia prior to ozone exposure (4 h, 3 ppm) on lung inflammatory responses in mice. Anesthesia regimens modeled those used for non-surgical intratracheal instillations and were administered 1–2 h or 24 h prior to initiating ozone exposure. Results We found that Iso given 1–2 h prior to ozone inhibited inflammatory responses in the lung, and this effect was absent when Iso was given 23–24 h prior to ozone. In contrast, K/X/A given 1–2 h prior to ozone increased lung and systemic inflammation. Conclusion Our results highlight the need to comprehensively evaluate anesthesia as an experimental variable in the assessment of lung inflammation in response to ozone and other inflammatory stimuli.