OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of different doses of propofol on pulmonary metastasis of intravenous injected MADB106 tumor cells and the expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin in the metastatic tumor tissue in rats.

METHODSForty Fischer 344 male rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=10) for intravenous administration of normal saline, intralipid, or propofol at 30 or 50 mg/kg via the femoral vein. One hour after the infusion, MADB106 tumor cells (2×10(5)) were injected intravenously in the rats. Three weeks later, pulmonary metastasis tumor foci and metastatic inhibitory rate were observed and the expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin in the metastatic tumor tissue were detected by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSCompared with the normal saline group, intralipid group showed no significant differences in the number of metastatic tumor foci in the lungs or E-cadherin and β-catenin expressions (P>0.05), which were all significantly lowered in the two propofol groups (P<0.05 or 0.01). The dose of propofol was inversely correlated with the number of metastasis tumor foci (r=-0.879) and expressions of E-cadherin (r=-0.755) and β-catenin (r=-0.693) (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONPropofol can dose-dependently suppress pulmonary metastasis of intravenous injected MADB106 tumor cells by inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and down-regulating E-cadherin and β-catenin expressions in the metastatic tumor tissue.