Impact of carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum on the expression of nuclear factor kappa b p65, tnf-α, and il-6 in human gastric cancer xenografts in a nude mouse model

AIM: To assess the impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) pneumoperitoneum versus laparotomy on the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in human gastric cancer xenografts in a nude mouse model. METHODS: Nude mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with human gastric cancer cells (MKN45) to generate a xenograft mouse model of human gastric cancer. The model mice were randomly divided into three groups to undergo laparotomy, CO2 pneumoperitoneum, and anesthesia alone, respectively. Tumor growth and expression of TNF-α, IL-6 expression and NF-κB in tumor xenografts were determined. RESULTS: Total tumor weight was higher in mice undergoing laparotomy than in those undergoing CO2 pneumoperitoneum (0.72 ± 0.02 ν 0.43 ± 0.06, P < 0.05). The mRNA expression levels of NF-κB p65, TNF-α, and IL-6 were significantly higher at 24 h after laparotomy than after CO2 pneumoperitoneum (1.09 ± 0.12 ν 0.63 ± 0.07; 1.14 ± 0.11 vs 0.31 ± 0.05; 0.65 ± 0.08 ν 0.42 ± 0.04, all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In a xenograft mouse model of human gastric cancer, CO2 pneumoperitoneum resulted in slower tumor growth and lower expression levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and NF-κB p65 in tumor tissue than laparotomy, suggesting that laparoscopy is a minimally invasive technique in gastrointestinal oncologic surgery.