Effects of sevoflurane anesthesia and abdominal surgery on the systemic metabolome: a prospective observational study

BACKGROUND: Metabolic status can be impacted by general anesthesia and surgery. However, the exact effects of general anesthesia and surgery on systemic metabolome remain unclear, which might contribute to postoperative outcomes. METHODS: Five hundred patients who underwent abdominal surgery were included. General anesthesia was mainly maintained with sevoflurane. The end-tidal sevoflurane concentration (ET(sevo)) was adjusted to maintain BIS (Bispectral index) value between 40 and 60. The mean ET(sevo) from 20 min after endotracheal intubation to 2 h after the beginning of surgery was calculated for each patient. The patients were further divided into low ET(sevo) group (mean − SD) and high ET(sevo) group (mean + SD) to investigate the possible metabolic changes relevant to the amount of sevoflurane exposure. RESULTS: The mean ET(sevo) of the 500 patients was 1.60% ± 0.34%. Patients with low ET(sevo) (n = 55) and high ET(sevo) (n = 59) were selected for metabolomic analysis (1.06% ± 0.13% vs. 2.17% ± 0.16%, P < 0.001). Sevoflurane and abdominal surgery disturbed the tricarboxylic acid cycle as identified by increased citrate and cis-aconitate levels and impacted glycometabolism as identified by increased sucrose and D-glucose levels in these 114 patients. Glutamate metabolism was also impacted by sevoflurane and abdominal surgery in all the patients. In the patients with high ET(sevo), levels of L-glutamine, pyroglutamic acid, sphinganine and L-selenocysteine after sevoflurane anesthesia and abdominal surgery were significantly higher than those of the patients with low ET(sevo), suggesting that these metabolic changes might be relevant to the amount of sevoflurane exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Sevoflurane anesthesia and abdominal surgery can impact principal metabolic pathways in clinical patients including tricarboxylic acid cycle, glycometabolism and glutamate metabolism. This study may provide a resource data for future studies about metabolism relevant to general anaesthesia and surgeries. TRIAL REGISTRATION: www.chictr.org.cn. identifier: ChiCTR1800014327. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12871-021-01301-0.