Effects of local anesthetics on rat leukocyte functions

Abstract

To determine whether local anesthetics affect functions in macrophages, I examined the effects of 5 local anesthetics, lidocaine HCl, mepivacaine HCl, propitocaine HCl, procaine HCl, and tetracaine HCl, on chemotaxis and production of superoxide anion in rat peripheral macrophages. Rats were intraperitoneally injected with 1% glycogen. Peritoneal exudate cells containing macrophages were obtained from the peritoneal cavity 4 days after the administration. Chemotaxis was evaluated using a 48-well microchemotaxis chamber with a polycarbonate membrane filter. Production of superoxide anion was measured spectrophotometrically by a superoxide dismutase-sensitive reduction of ferricytochrome c. All of the local anesthetics examined at a dose of 1 mg ml inhibited (P < 0.05) chemotaxis and production of superoxide anion in macrophages. Moreover, pretreatment of macrophage suspensions with mepivacaine HCl, propitocaine HCl, procaine HCl, or tetracaine HCl at a dose of 1 mg ml resulted in inhibition of the production of superoxide anion. In contrast, pretreatment with lidocaine HCl at this concentration did not significantly affect the production of superoxide anion. These results suggest that all of the local anesthetics examined at a therapeutic concentration inhibit chemotaxis and production of superoxide anion in rat macrophages.