The inhibiting effect of intravenous anesthesia on adrenal gland functions under the sepsis condition

This study aims to explore the effect of intravenous anesthesia on the adrenal gland functions of rats with sepsis as well as on their lungs and adrenal gland tissues in order to provide a theoretical reference for the cure of sepsis. Female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were taken as the research objects in this study. Venous channels of rats were constructed by catheterization through the external jugular vein, and the cecal ligation and puncture technique was adopted to duplicate the sepsis rat models. The level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in serum was detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and necrocytosis was observed by the fluorescent staining method. The results showed that the survival rates of groups A, B, C, and D were 100%, 60%, 60%, and 50%, respectively, while their concentrations of TNF-alpha in serum were 101.26 +/- 43.38, 1398.68 +/- 178.56, 451.16 +/- 78.68, and 649.83 +/- 98.56 pg/mL, respectively. Results of fluorescent staining showed that the number of living cells per unit view in group A was 1428 +/- 166 and those of groups B, C and D were 175 +/- 56, 618 +/- 76, and 468 +/- 55, respectively. Besides, it was found that changes of inflammatory pathology of lung tissues of each group were significant. In conclusion, etomidate does not affect the survival of sepsis rats and does not exacerbate lung tissue inflammation in sepsis rats. Instead, it can inhibit TNF-alpha in serum of sepsis rats, as well as the apoptosis of adrenal cells in sepsis rats.