Background: Isoflurane is a halogenated volatile anesthetic. It is generally believed that modern inhaled anesthetics are not themselves toxic but their intermediates might be. Whether isoflurane exposure results in any alteration in oncogene and tumour suppressor gene expression was investigated here.
Materials and methods: CBA/CA H-2(k) mice were anesthetized with isoflurane for 1 hour. The expression alterations of c-myc, Ha-ras and p53 genes were investigated in the vital organs 3, 24 and 48 hours later.
Results: Expression patterns of the investigated genes differed both in magnitude and time course according to gender. Overexpressions were detected after 24 hours in both sexes, but in females, overexpression of all investigated genes remained high in all organs at 48 hours, except in the bone-marrow.
Discussion: Considerable overexpression of two oncogenes and a tumour suppressor gene after isoflurane exposure were found.