Fig. 2: Sevoflurane elevated the mice serum level of IL-6 and activated its downstream effector STAT3 in lung tissues.

a Anesthetics-induced cytokine changes in lung tissues were evaluated by Cytokine array analysis in the 4T1 syngeneic mouse model. Three hours or one day after mastectomy under sevoflurane or propofol, mice were euthanized to collect serum and lung tissue, which were then subject to cytokine array c-100. Data were normalized against the reference (mouse bearing tumors without surgery) across membranes to calculate relative expression of cytokines in the serum or lung (Serum one day: sevoflurane vs propofol, VEGF-A, p = 0.001; IL-6, p < 0.001; IL-12, p = 0.007. Tissue one day: sevoflurane vs propofol, SDF-1 α, p < 0.001; TARC, p = 0.023. Two-way ANOVA + Dunnett’s post hoc tests). b Serum level of IL-6 was significantly higher in the sevoflurane group compared to the propofol group for both three-hour (p = 0.02, two-way ANOVA + Dunnett’s post hoc tests) and one-day after surgery (p = 0.002, two-way ANOVA + Dunnett’s post hoc tests) by ELISA analysis of IL-6 and VEGF in serum and lung lysate. Serum VEGF level was significantly higher in the lungs one day after surgery with sevoflurane than with propofol (n = 3, p = 0.03, two-way ANOVA + Dunnett’s post hoc tests). c Sevoflurane treated mice showed significant higher level of p-STAT3 (Tyr 705) in the lungs than propofol at both three-hour (p = 0.02, two-way ANOVA + Dunnett’s post hoc tests) and one-day (p = 0.01, two-way ANOVA + Dunnett’s post hoc tests) after surgery by Western blot. No significant change in Ser727 was observed (n = 3, two-way ANOVA + Dunnett’s post hoc tests). Phosphorylation at Tyr 705 is generally agreed as the main activated form of STAT3. Data presented as the mean ± S.D. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.