[TTC-reducing activity of alveolar macrophages under the influence of halothane and nitrous oxide (author's transl)].

In order to study the influence of two inhalational anaesthetics on metabolic activity of macrophages, we exposed alveolar macrophages (AM) from guinea pigs to both nitrous oxide (N2O) and halothane-N2O in vitro. We examined the enzymatic activity, which is bound to an intact metabolic phase, by application of the triphenyltetrazolium-chloride test (TTC-test). The content of the enzymatically to formazan reduced TTC was measured spectro-photometrically. Incubation of AM for 60 min in 1 to 4 percent halothane vaporized in air produced only a minimal, statistically insignificant depression of TTC reduction activity (TTC-RA). Halothane plus N2O-O2 (80:20) caused a statistically significant depression of TTC-RA. The reponse is graded in relation to the halothane dose. Exposure to monoanaesthesia with N2O also resulted in reduction of metabolic activity. These data demonstrate that inhalational anaesthetics inhibit the capability of AM to reduce TTC.