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Anesth Analg 2003;97:1020-1024
© 2003 International Anesthesia Research Society

ANESTHETIC PHARMACOLOGY

The Use of the Potassium Channel Activator Riluzole to Test Whether Potassium Channels Mediate the Capacity of Isoflurane to Produce Immobility

Yilei Xing, MD, Yi Zhang, MD, Caroline R. Stabernack, MD, Edmond I Eger, II, MD, and Andrew T. Gray, MD PhD

Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, California

Address correspondence to Andrew T. Gray, MD, PhD, Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, Room 3C-38, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94110. Address e-mail to graya{at}anesthesia.ucsf.edu

Inhaled anesthetics produce immobility during noxious stimulation, primarily by actions on the spinal cord. In this study, we examined whether activation of potassium channels of the KCNK subfamily alters volatile anesthetic potency. We measured the change in isoflurane minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC) during 4-h intrathecal or IV infusions of the nonspecific KCNK activator riluzole in 54 Sprague-Dawley rats. IV or intrathecal infusions of riluzole doses that did not result in permanent injury or death equally decreased isoflurane MAC. We conclude that although riluzole exhibited anesthetic effects, the similar dose response from IV or intrathecal infusion suggests systemic absorption and actions in the brain rather than the spinal cord.

IMPLICATIONS: Riluzole, a drug that activates potassium channels and decreases glutamatergic neurotransmission, primarily acts on supraspinal sites to produce immobility in response to noxious stimuli. This finding does not support the hypothesis that potassium channels mediate the capacity of inhaled anesthetics to produce immobility in the face of noxious stimulation.




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E. I. Eger II, D. E. Raines, S. L. Shafer, H. C. Hemmings Jr, and J. M. Sonner
Is a New Paradigm Needed to Explain How Inhaled Anesthetics Produce Immobility?
Anesth. Analg., September 1, 2008; 107(3): 832 - 848.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins Anesthesia & Analgesia® is published for the International Anesthesia Research Society® by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins with the assistance of Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press®. Copyright 2006 by the International Anesthesia Research Society. Online ISSN: 1526-7598   Print ISSN: 0003-2999 HighWire Press
Copyright © 2003 by the International Anesthesia Research Society.