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GENERAL ARTICLES

Isoflurane Does Not Depress the Hypoxic Response of Rabbit Carotid Body Chemoreceptors

Henning Joensen, MD^*, Christopher L. Sadler, PhD, José Ponte, PhD, Yuji Yamamoto, PhD^§, Sten G. E. Lindahl, PhD^*, and Lars I. Eriksson, PhD^*

*Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Karolinska Hospital and Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Anesthesia, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital; Department of Anesthesia, King’s College School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of London, London, United Kingdom; and §The Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Henning Joensen, MD, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Odense University Hospital, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark. Address e-mail to henning.joensen{at}dadlnet.dk

Whether volatile anesthetics have an effect on the peripheral chemoreceptors is controversial, possibly because of differences in end-tidal CO₂ concentrations. We studied the effect of isoflurane on the hypoxic chemosensitivity of carotid body chemoreceptors at three different PaCO₂ levels before and during the administration of 1.0% isoflurane (0.5 minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration) in six normothermic New Zealand white rabbits anesthetized with thiopental. The response of the chemoreceptors was fitted to the equation: Frequency (Hz) = a + b x PaCO₂ + c x (1/PaO₂) + Dx (1/PaO₂)². Mean values for the coefficients a, b, c and d for the control state were -4.5, 0.13, 771, and 6332, respectively. This relationship was not changed by addition of isoflurane at 1.0% end-tidal concentration (P = 0.40, analysis of variance). We conclude that isoflurane at 1.0% end-tidal concentration does not depress the hypoxic response of rabbit carotid body chemoreceptors during either hypo-, normo-, or hypercapnia.

Implications: By measuring single-fiber chemoreceptor activity in anesthetized rabbits, we showed that isoflurane at 1.0% end-tidal concentration does not depress the hypoxic chemosensitivity of peripheral chemoreceptors during either hypo-, normo-, or hypercapnia in this species.

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