| Introduction: The potential genotoxicity from exposure to volatile anesthetic agents is a concern for both anesthesia providers and patients undergoing procedures in which these agents are used. The purpose of this study is to compare the degree of genotoxicity of desflurane, isoflurane, and sevoflurane by analyzing loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in the offspring of Drosophila melanogaster (DM) after exposure to 1.0 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of these agents.;Overview: Meta-analysis demonstrates a relationship between operating room personnel exposure to anesthetic gases and risk for spontaneous abortion. Repeated exposure to even trace amounts of anesthetic gases may result in genotoxicity. Bench and clinical research have reported conflicting results concerning genotoxicity, cytotoxicity and gene expression following volatile anesthetic exposure.;Methods: In this quantitative, experimental laboratory study, the SMART assay was used to determine changes in eye color in female offspring of Drosophila melanogaster that were exposed to 1.0 MAC of desflurane, isoflurane, or sevoflurane. Experimental groups were compared to control groups, which consisted of a no treatment group and a group exposed to EMS, a known teratogenic chemical used to induce DNA mutations for scientific research.;Results: When assessing LOH in female offspring as measured by white spots in a normally red eye, all 3 experiments exhibited more white spots (LOH) than controls in isoflurane-exposed flies. The desflurane-exposed flies had significantly more LOH in 2 of the 3 experiments, and the sevoflurane-exposed flies showed no significant difference compared with the control (unexposed) group in all experiments. In 2 out of 3 experiments, Drosophila exposed to sevoflurane or desflurane showed a sex-skew in the offspring population, with more females than males observed.;Conclusion: Upon comparing experimental groups in all 3 experiments, sevoflurane resulted in the lowest incidence of LOH present in Drosophila, as measured by the SMART assay, whereas isoflurane resulted in the highest incidence of LOH measured. In 2 out of 3 experiments, desflurane also produced a significant LOH. |
