Effects of anesthesia and vehicle injection on circulating blood elements in C3H/HeN male mice

• Published in: Contemporary topics in laboratory animal science Vol. 43; no. 5; pp. 8 - 12
• Main Authors: Jacobsen, K.O, Villa, V, Miner, V.L, Whitnall, M.H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-09-2004
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; anesthesia; Anesthetics, Inhalation - administration & dosage; Anesthetics, Inhalation - blood; Anesthetics, Inhalation - pharmacology; Animals; behavior change; Blood Cell Count; Blood Cells - drug effects; Drug Carriers - pharmacology; hematologic agents; hematology; isoflurane; Isoflurane - administration & dosage; Isoflurane - blood; Isoflurane - pharmacology; leukocyte count; Male; males; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; neutrophils; polyethylene glycol; Polyethylene Glycols - pharmacology
• ISSN: 1060-0558

The induction and maintenance of general anesthesia can lead to profound alterations of many organ systems, especially the cardiovascular, pulmonary, and nervous systems. Moreover, distinct from their cardiopulmonary effects, certain anesthetics can induce physiologic and behavioral changes, which may persist after recovery from anesthesia. Knowledge of the effects of anesthesia and anesthetic agents on hematologic measurements is important. Although the effects of anesthesia were clinically unapparent, the effect on levels of circulating blood elements was an important determinant for the results of our study. We sought to evaluate the effect of anesthesia and vehicle injection on the levels of circulating blood elements in C3H/HeN male mice. We used an automated hematology system to obtain complete blood counts with differentials in anesthetized and unanesthetized mice receiving subcutaneous injections of polyethylene glycol (PEG-400). Two days after a 30-min exposure to isoflurane anesthesia, mean white blood cell counts had deceased by 15.4%, mean neutrophil counts had decreased by 26.9%, and mean platelet counts by 11.2% compared with levels in unanesthetized mice. Our results indicate that the effect of anesthesia is an important consideration when circulating blood elements in mice must be measured.