The effects of halothane anaesthesia on antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity in rats.

Lymphocytes from rats killed while anaesthetized with 1-5 per cent halothane showed a significantly reduced capacity to induce lysis of antibody-coated target cells compared with those from untreated rats. This effect was short-lived however, being no longer apparent in lymphoid cells taken from rats 2 h after their recovery from such anaesthesia. Surgical procedures were not effective in extending the duration of reduced ADCC activity. The implication of these findings is that the post-operative depression of this in vitro assay of immunocompetence results from the influence of the anaesthetic agent per se or its metabolities with surgical trauma having little role.