The Safety and Side Effects of Amide-Based Local Anesthetics in Rats with Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatic Injury

The use of amide-based local anesthetics is generally considered to be safe. However, the literature on their safety in patients with hepatic injury is scarce. For the first time, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect and safety of five commonly used amide-based local anesthetics in the setting of hepatic failure.

A total of 96 Sprague-Dawley rats were studied from September 2015 to September 2016 in the Animal Laboratory Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. They divided into three groups, namely a control, induced liver failure (LF), and non-LF groups. The rats were administered local anesthetic agents (lidocaine, prilocaine with felypressin, lidocaine with epinephrine, mepivacaine, articaine, and prilocaine). The effect of these drugs was evaluated by comparing the liver enzyme levels of the rats. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. The independent t test, one-way ANOVA, and the post hoc tests were used to compare groups. A P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

In non-LF rats, mepivacaine, lidocaine, and lidocaine with epinephrine caused a significant increase in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level compared with the effect of prilocaine with felypressin and articaine. In non-LF rats, only mepivacaine resulted in a significant increase in AST level compared with lidocaine (P=0.007) and prilocaine with felypressin (P=0.044). In this group, only mepivacaine caused a significant increase in alanine transaminase (ALT) level compared with lidocaine (P=0.016). Whereas in the LF group, mepivacaine caused an increase in ALT level compared with the effect of both prilocaine with felypressin (P=0.009) and articaine (P<0.001). The use of mepivacaine in the LF group caused a significant increase in gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase level compared prilocaine with felypressin (P=0.039).

Articaine and prilocaine with felypressin local anesthetics induced the least change in hepatic enzyme levels in rats with abnormal hepatic function.