title: Cellular toxicity of anesthetics.
abstract: Inhalational anesthetics produce a range of side effects in addition to the production of narcosis. These are not uniform for all anesthetics, but show specificity. The side effects are not the result of uniform depression of all cell functions and are themselves highly specific. The basic mechanisms appear to be binding of the anesthetic to hydrophobic sites in macromolecules, with resulting conformational changes which may cause a change of properties. Examples are inactivation of enzymes, depolymerisation of polymers (such as microtubules) and paralysis of motile systems. These effects cause widespread changes such as interference with metabolic processes, cellular motility, micro structure and cell division. Cellular toxicity may also result from the action of biotransformation products including free radicals. These may disrupt membranes and result in autolysis of cells. Immune responses to anesthetics and their biotransformation products have been demonstrated but their clinical significance is not yet known.
mesh_terms: D000769:Anesthesia, Inhalation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D001711:Biotransformation; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics