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Aging

Effects on Minimum Alveolar Concentration (MAC) for Halothane in Fischer-344 Rats

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Department of Anesthesiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Abstract

It is well-established that the anesthetic requirement (MAC) of volatile agents such as halothane is reduced in elderly patients. The current project was designed to determine whether a similar alteration in anesthetic requirement occurs in Fischer-344 (F-344) rats, an animal model often utilized in physiology and pharmacology to examine aging-related changes. Animals were exposed to increasing or decreasing levels of halothane. After equilibration at each concentration, the response to tail-clamping was used for MAC testing. MAC was reduced approximately 17% in aged (25 months) versus young adult (5 months) animals. From these data, it is concluded that the F-344 rat may be an adequate model for examination of age-dependent alterations in the actions of volatile anesthetics.

Key Words: ANESTHETICS, VOLATILE: halothane • POTENCY, ANESTHETIC: MAC • AGE FACTORS: MAC

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