Correlation between specific immunity to a metabolite of halothane and hepatic lesions after multiple exposures.

A correlation between the use of halogenated anesthetic agents and liver necrosis is not yet established in man. In an attempt to resolve this dilemma, guinea pigs were immunized with a complex of guinea-pig albumin and trifluoroacetate (TFA), a common metabolite of halothane and fluorexene, and then exposed to halothane on multiple occasions. Histology and liver-function tests showed no difference in the incidence of liver damage between groups of animals immune to TFA with cellular immunity and untreated control animals. However, a difference in the liver enzyme levels was seen between controls and animals showing humoral immunity.