Objective: To evaluate the relationship between the acute inflammatory response after surgical trauma and changes in hepatic cytochrome P450 3A4 activity, compare changes in cytochrome P450 3A4 activity after procedures with varying degrees of surgical stress, and to explore the time course of any potential drug-cytokine interaction after surgery.
Design: Prospective, open-label study with each patient serving as his or her own control.
Setting: University-affiliated, acute care, general hospital.
Patients: A total of 16 patients scheduled for elective repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (n = 5), complete or partial colectomy (n = 6), or peripheral vascular surgery with graft (n = 5).
Interventions: Cytochrome P450 3A4 activity was estimated using the carbon-14 [14C]erythromycin breath test (ERMBT) before surgery and 24, 48, and 72 hrs after surgery. Abdominal aortic aneurysm and colectomy patients also had an ERMBT performed at discharge. Blood samples were obtained before surgery, immediately after surgery, and 6, 24, 32, 48, and 72 hrs after surgery for determination of plasma concentrations of interleukin-6, interleukin-1beta, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Clinical markers of surgical stress that were collected included duration of surgery, estimated blood loss, and volume of fluids administered in the operating room.
Measurements and main results: ERMBT results significantly declined in all three surgical groups, with the lowest value at the time of the 72-hr study in all three groups. There was a trend toward differences in ERMBT results among groups that did not reach statistical significance (p =.06). The nadir ERMBT result was significantly and negatively correlated with both peak interleukin-6 concentration (r(s) = -.541, p =.03) and log interleukin-6 area under the curve from 0 to 72 hrs (r(s) = -.597, p =.014). Subjects with a peak interleukin-6 of >100 pg/mL had a significantly lower nadir ERMBT compared with subjects with a peak interleukin-6 of <100 pg/mL (35.5% +/- 5.2% vs. 74.7% +/- 5.1%, p <.001).
Conclusions: Acute inflammation after elective surgery was associated with a significant decline in cytochrome P450 3A4 activity, which is predictive of clinically important changes in the metabolism of commonly used drugs that are substrates for this enzyme.