Effects of halothane anesthesia on equine liver function.
Effects of halothane anesthesia were investigated in ponies prepared surgically with chronic external biliary fistulas (T tubes) to determine the effects on liver function and biliary excretion during 2 hours of anesthesia. Four studies were performed on 2 ponies, 2 to 6 months after surgery with the enterohepatic circulation held intact between studies. Intravenous bile acid infusion was used to maintain steady-state bile flow, bilirubin, and bile acid excretion during each study. Compared with the immediate 2-hour preanesthesia values (base line), halothane caused a 138% increase in bilirubin excretion, a 60% increase in biliary bilirubin concentration, and a 43% increase in PCV. Halothane anesthesia also caused a 16% reduction in plasma bilirubin, a 46% reduction in biliary bile acid concentration, and a 27% reduction in bile acid excretion. The bile acid independent fraction of bile flow appeared to increase. Plasma aspartate transaminase concentration did not change during anesthesia. The ratio of conjugated bilirubin fractions in bile [82% to 83% disconjugates of glucuronide and glucoside (2 forms) and 17% to 18% monoconjugates of glucoside, glucuronide, and xyloside] did not change during anesthesia and less than 1% was excreted unconjugated. Halothane anesthesia did not appear to affect adversely the activity of the transferase-conjugating enzymes in the presence of an increased bilirubin load. Seemingly, greatly increased conjugated bilirubin excretion observed during halothane anesthesia was most likely the result of a combination of increased hepatic clearance from plasma and increased hepatic bilirubin production from turnover of free hepatic heme or heme from the induced cytochrome P-450 system.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)