1. Rates and rate coefficients of glucose utilization and replacement were determined with [5-3H]- and [U-14C]-glucose in rats starved for 24h, either conscious or under halothane anaesthesia, in a thermoneutral environment. Plasma insulin concentrations were also measured. 2. Halothane anaesthesia decreased the turnover rate by 20%, which was similar to previously reported decreases in metabol...

The effects of in vivo pretreatment with phenobarbital (PB), thiopental (TP), thiamylal (TA), pentobarbital (PT), and secobarbital (SB) on hepatic microsomal enzymes, and the effects on anaerobic halothane dehalogenation, aminopyrine N-demethylation, and aniline hydroxylation in the microsomes were studied in male Wistar rats. Three hundred twenty mumol/kg (0.1 ml) of PB, TP, TA, PT, SB, or 0.1...

BACKGROUND Halothane shortens ventricular action potential duration (APD), as a consequence of its inhibitory effects on a variety of membrane currents, an effect that is greater in sub-endocardial than sub-epicardial myocytes. In hypertrophied ventricle, APD is prolonged as a consequence of electrical remodelling. In this study, we compared the effects of halothane on transmural APD in myocyte...

BACKGROUND Because the relative efficacy of antiarrhythmic agents on halothane-epinephrine arrhythmias has not been well characterized, this study was undertaken to comparatively evaluate the antiarrhythmic action of Na(+)-, K(+)- and Ca(2+)-channel blockers on epinephrine-induced ventricular arrhythmias during halothane anesthesia in rats. METHODS Rats were anesthetized at random with either...

The Medical Assessor to the Committee on Safety ofMedicines recently issued' a letter entitled "Jaundice following repeated exposure to halothane," in which he noted that 130 reports of jaundice following anaesthesia had been received by the committee between 1964 and 1972, every case being associated with the use of halothane. Ninety-four of these patients had been exposed to halothane more th...

Halothane and propofol stimulate activation of protein kinase C (PKC) in the presence of physiologically relevant lipid bilayer vesicles in vitro. The mechanism of this stimulation was characterized by analyzing the effects of halothane and propofol on the activation of purified rat brain PKC by its three essential activators, phosphatidylserine, diacylglycerol, and Ca’+, each of which is known...

The effects of halothane on preganglionic cervical sympathetic activity and arterial pressure have been measured in intact and spinal cats, one dog and one baboon. The typical response was an early increase in sympathetic discharge as arterial pressure began to fall. Thereafter, although sympathetic activity declined progressively, at the time it regained the control level arterial pressure was...

We have examined the effects of the volatile general anaesthetic agent, halothane, on K+ and carbachol stimulated [3H]noradrenaline release and associated increases in intracellular Ca2+ in a cultured human neuroblastoma cell line, SH-SY5Y. K+ (but not carbachol) stimulated [3H]noradrenaline release, and the increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration was entirely extracellular Ca2+ dependent....

Serum potassium levels of 53 patients before and after induction with halothane and oxygen, halothane, nitrous oxide and oxygen, and thiopentone, showed a significant decrease after reaching the first surgical plane. After the administration of the depolarizing agent suxamethonium serum potassium levels increased significantly more in the two halothane groups than in the thiopentone group. It i...

Antiarrhythmic effects of intravenous coronary vasodilators (verapamil, diltiazem, bepridil, trimetazidine and nicorandil) were evaluated using two canine ventricular arrhythmia models (halothane-adrenaline arrhythmia and digitalis arrhythmia), and the minimum effective plasma concentrations of the drugs were determined for each arrhythmia model. Verapamil (0.1 mg/kg), diltiazem (0.1 mg/kg), be...