Reactive oxygen species are associated with tissue
inflammation and injury. Our laboratory has demonstrated that
ethane, a stable product of lipid peroxidation, in exhaled breath can be used to measure total body oxidative stress. An
ischemia-reperfusion model of
lung injury in sheep has been studied in which pulmonary and bronchial lung perfusion could be interrupted and restored. The goal of this study was to investigate whether two commercial formulations of
propofol and the individual components of the commercial formulations attenuated the oxidative stress produced in this model. Breath
ethane and breath
carbon monoxide were measured as
biomarkers of oxidative stress that occur at reperfusion of ischemic tissue. Data were analyzed by a standard least-squares-fit model. One of the formulations for
propofol, which contained the preservative
ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (
EDTA), was found to decrease the overall level of oxidative stress in sheep. Furthermore, while several models of severe
lung injury demonstrate additional production of
reactive oxygen species, our model of
ischemia/reperfusion of lung tissue did not.