Abstract
Surgical trauma caused by oxidative stress was investigated using ether anaesthesia and ischaemia reperfusion models in fed and fasted rats. The results showed: (1) The hepatotoxic/nephrotoxic effects of ether anaesthesia are due in part to overnight fasting, and in part to ether toxicity. Both fasting and ether induce cytochrome P4502E1, which produces a burst of reactive oxygen species, resulting in oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, the destruction of other constitutive cytochromes P450, and tissue necrosis (Chapters 2, 3). (2) During ether anaesthesia the tissues are faced with a high potential for oxidative stress, with the continuous decrease of the tissue contents of GSH and other antioxidants. The consequence is that anaesthetic dosage correlates positively with the extent of lipid peroxidation, and negatively with tissue total antioxidant contents (Chapter 4). (3) Oxidative stress is now measurable in tissues by the use of the oxygen electrode to determine ratical-trapping activity (Chapter 5). (4) In ischaemia-reperfusion tissue injury, in addition to xanthine oxidase acting as a source of reactive oxygen species, the accumulation of neutrophils in the ischaemia-reperfused tissue is also an important source of ROS (Chapter 6).