OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of intravenous lornoxicam (LOR) at different doses given preoperatively on the immune function of patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH).

METHODSForty-five patients undergoing TAH were randomly divided into 3 groups, namely NS group, L8 group and L16 group with intravenous injection of 4 ml saline, 8 mg LOR, and 16 mg LOR before the induction of anesthesia respectively. Venous blood samples were taken before anesthesia (T0), at 30 min during the operation (T1), at the end of the operation (T2), and at 24 h and 48 h after the operation (T3 and T4, respectively) to determine the serum levels of regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), and stromal cell-derived factor 1 alpha (SDF-1alpha) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTSThe serum RANTES levels in NS group and L8 group at T1-T3 were significantly lower than those at T0 (P<0.05), but the levels in L8 group at each time point were all higher than those in NS group NS (P<0.05). The serum RANTES levels in L16 group L16 only decreased at T1-T2 as compared to those at T0, and were significantly higher than those in NS group and L8 group (P<0.05). The expressions of MCP-1 and SDF-1alpha in the 3 groups all increased at T1 and reached the peak levels after the operation. In L8 group and L16 group, MCP-1 expression at T2-T3 and SDF-1alpha at T1-T2 were both significantly lower than those in NS group (P<0.05). SDF-1alpha expression at T1-T2 was significantly lower in L16 group than in L8 group (P<0.05). The decrements of MCP-1 and SDF-1alpha were more obvious in L16 group than L8 group.

CONCLUSIONSPreoperative intravenous LOR injection may increase serum RANTES level and decrease MCP-1 and SDF-1alpha expressions to effectively relieve the perioperative immune disorders caused by TAH, and the effect is more potent at the dose of 16 mg.