Background: In spite of its high placental transfer, propofol is frequently used in general anesthesia and sedation during obstetric and gynecological surgery such as in vitro fertilization. This study investigated whether or not propofol has a genotoxic potential by the sister chromatid exchange assay in vitro.
Methods: Sister chromatid exchanges induced after exposure to propofol were measured in Chinese hamster ovary cells with and without metabolic activation. After Propofol (0.2-20 mug ml(-1)) diluted dimethyl sulfoxide was applied for 2 h with or without S9 mix, the cells having been incubated for two metaphases (34 h) in the presence of 5'-bromo-2-deoxyuridine. N-nitrosodimethylamine and mitomycin C were used as positive controls with and without metabolic activation. The chromosomes were stained with the fluorescence plus Giemsa method, and then sister chromatid exchanges in 50 cells were counted for each concentration.
Results: Although increasing concentrations of propofol inhibited cell proliferation, no concentrations of propofol used in this study increased the sister chromatid exchange values, with and without metabolic activation.
Conclusion: It was concluded that there was no indication, from the sister chromatid exchange assay in mammalian cells, of a genotoxic effect of propofol and its metabolites.