Effects of intravenous anesthetics on interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10 production by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated mononuclear cells from healthy volunteers.

Background: Surgical trauma has been shown to augment the plasma concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines, which are important mediators of host defense mechanisms and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Recently, it has been shown that certain kinds of surgery provoke not only a proinflammatory response (SIRS) but also a concurrent anti-inflammatory response. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the effects of intravenous anesthetics on the synthesis of interleukin (IL)-6 (a proinflammatory cytokine) and IL-10 (an anti-inflammatory cytokine) by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mononuclear cells from healthy volunteers.

[A benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil in clinical use--a dose finding study].

The effective dose, usefulness and side effects of flumazenil, a specific benzodiazepine antagonist, have been investigated in 72 sleeping patients after the end of the surgical operation who had received flunitrazepam 0.03 mg.kg-1, a long acting benzodiazepine.