Effect of sevoflurane on human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells under conditions of high glucose and insulin.

Diabetes mellitus is associated with morbidity and progression of some cancers, such as hepatocellular carcinoma. It has been reported that sevoflurane, a volatile anesthetic agent commonly used in cancer surgery, can lead to lower overall survival rates than those observed when propofol is used to treat cancer patients, and sevoflurane increases cancer cell proliferation in in vitro studies. It has been also reported that glucose levels in rats anesthetized with sevoflurane were higher than those in rats anesthetized with propofol. We investigated the effect of sevoflurane, under conditions of high glucose and insulin, on cell proliferation in the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, HepG2. First, we exposed HepG2 cells to sevoflurane at 1 or 2 % concentration for 6 h in various glucose concentrations and then evaluated cell proliferation using the MTT assay. Subsequently, to mimic diabetic conditions observed during surgery, HepG2 cells were exposed to sevoflurane at 1 or 2 % concentration in high glucose concentrations at various concentrations of insulin for 6 h. One-percent sevoflurane exposure enhanced cell proliferation under conditions of high glucose, treated with 0.05 mg/l insulin. Our study implies that sevoflurane may affect cell proliferation in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells in a physiological situation mimicking that of diabetes.