The effect of dexmedetomidine on expressions of inflammatory factors in patients with radical resection of gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of dexmedetomidine on the expressions of inflammatory factors, T-lymphocyte subgroups and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) in peripheral blood monocytes in the perioperative period of radical resection of gastric cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We selected 74 patients who were admitted to our hospital for radical resection of gastric cancer between January 2012 and October 2015. All patients were randomly divided into the dexmedetomidine group and the control group. Within 15 min before anesthesia induction, patients in the dexmedetomidine group received the intravenous injection of dexmedetomidine, while the same volume saline in the control group. During the operation, the initial dosage in the dexmedetomidine group was set as 1 μg/kg followed by 0.2 μg/kg•h intravenous injection to the end of operation. Three time points were selected: 15 min before anesthesia induction (T0), 1 h before the end of operation (T1) and 24 h after operation (T2). At these time points, we detected the levels of serum inflammatory factors using enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA), immunoturbidimetry, and flow cytometer, respectively.

RESULTS: The levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, NF-κB and CRP at T1 and T2 were significantly elevated compared with the levels at T0, and the amplitude of elevation in the control group was significantly larger than that in the dexmedetomidine group. The expression levels of T-lymphocyte subgroup in patients in both groups were decreased at T1 (compared with the levels at T0), and the decreasing extent of the ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ in the control group was significantly larger than that in the dexmedetomidine group. Meanwhile, we found that the percentages of CD3+ and CD4+ at T1 and T2 in the control group were significantly lower than those in the dexmedetomidine group.

CONCLUSIONS: Dexmedetomidine can effectively reduce the release of inflammatory factors in patients that received the radical resection of gastric cancer, and the anti-inflammation effect may be exerted through downregulating the expression of NF-κB. Besides, dexmedetomidine can also alleviate the reduction in subgroups of CD3+ and CD4+, thereby ameliorating the impaired immune functions.