• Kouichiro Minami, Yuka Sudo, Toru Yokoyama, Junichi Ogata, Mamoru Takeuchi, and Yasuhito Uezono.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan. kminami@med.uoeh-u.ac.jp
• Pharmacology. 2011 Jan 1;88(3-4):127-32.

AbstractSevoflurane is widely used for anesthesia, and is commonly used together with opioids in clinical practice. However, the effects of sevoflurane on μ-opioid receptor (μOR) functions is still unclear. In this study, the effects of sevoflurane on μOR functions were analyzed by using Xenopus oocytes expressing a μOR fused to chimeric Gα protein G(qi5) (μOR-G(qi5)). Sevoflurane by itself did not elicit any currents in oocytes expressing μOR-G(qi5), whereas sevoflurane inhibited the [D-Ala(2),N-Me-Phe(4),Gly(5)-ol]-enkephalin (DAMGO)-induced Cl(-) currents at clinically used concentrations. Sevoflurane did not affect the Cl(-) currents induced by AlF(4)(-), which directly led to activation of G proteins. The inhibitory effects of sevoflurane on the DAMGO-induced currents were not observed in oocytes pretreated with the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor GF109203X. These findings suggest that sevoflurane would inhibit μOR function. Further, the mechanism of inhibition by sevoflurane would be mediated by PKC.Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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