Effect of Local Anesthetics on Leukocyte Function

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The effects of 5 local anesthetics (lidocaine, prilocaine, mepivacaine, procaine and tetracaine) on the production of oxygen radicals (O_2 - and H_2O_2) together with chemotaxis and phagocytosis of both human and rat leukocytes (polymorphonuclear leukocytes and macrophages) were examined. Production of oxygen radicals was measured in microtiter plates using opsonized zymosan (OPZ), phorbol myristate acetate or calcium ionophore A23187 as a stimulant. Chemotaxis was measured by membrane filter method using serum or FMLP as a chemoattractant. Phagocytosis was measured by light microscopic count of OPZ engulfing cells. Each local anesthetic dose-dependently inhibited O_2 - and H_2O_2 production of both human and rat leukocytes and the inhibition was reversible. Stimulants showed different oxygen radical production ability among tree. Local anesthetics also dose-dependently inhibited both chemotaxis and phagocytosis. These results suggest that correlation between overuse of a local anesthetic in dental therapy such as an extraction of a tooth and postoperative infection.