Rats were trained to escape from shook in a T maze. A response learned by S while it was drugged with 25 mg/kg sodium pentobarbital failed to appear if S was subsequently tested while not drugged. Conversely, a response learned by S while undrugged did not occur if S was tested while drugged. In both cases performance of the response was dependent upon reinstatement of the drug condition presen...

A recently developed model posits that a bout of operant responding comprises three different components: bout initiation rate, within-bout response rate and bout length. Each parameter is thought to be affected by different classes of variables. Pentobarbital was used to assess the independence and sensitivity of these parameters in two mouse strains, BALB/c and C57BL/6, selected because of th...

Barbiturate sensitivity was imparted to the human rho1 homooligomeric gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor channel by mutation of a tryptophan residue at position 328 (Trp328), which is located within the third transmembrane domain. Substitutions of Trp328 with a spectrum of amino acids revealed that nearly all hydrophobic residues produced receptor channels that were both directly activated...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Intravenous pentobarbital has been used in the past to sedate pediatric patients in preparation for MRI; however, the drug has unpredictable sedation time. Dexmedetomidine, because of its short half-life, is gaining popularity for pediatric MRI sedation in settings where the use of propofol is restricted for nonanesthesiologists. The objective was to compare induction t...

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of ketamine/ xylazine and pentobarbital anaesthesia on heart rate variability as a marker of autonomic nervous system activity. The experiments were performed in ketamine/ xylazine (10 mg/kg/15 mg/kg) and pentobarbital (40 mg/kg, i.p.) anaesthetized female Wistar rats, after adaptation to a light-dark cycle of 12 hours light: 12 hours dar...

BACKGROUND Systemic administration of acetazolamide blocks nociceptive hyperreflexia induced by pentobarbital. The authors assessed the effect of intrathecal carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (CAIs) on nociceptive reflex enhancement by pentobarbital, propofol, and midazolam. METHODS Twenty-seven rats with chronic indwelling subarachnoid catheters were studied. Nociceptive paw reflex latency (PWL)...

INTRODUCTION Experimental research has demonstrated that the level of neuroprotection conferred by the various barbiturates is not equal. Until now no controlled studies have been conducted to compare their effectiveness, even though the Brain Trauma Foundation Guidelines recommend that such studies be undertaken. The objectives of the present study were to assess the effectiveness of pentobarb...

PURPOSE To determine the effects of ketamine and pentobarbital on noradrenaline release from the medial prefrontal cortex. METHODS In 14 male Wistar rats, a microdialysis probe with a 2 mm long semipermeable membrane was implanted in the medial prefrontal cortex. The dialysis probe was perfused at a rate of 1 microl x min(-1) with an artificial cerebrospinal fluid solution. The rats were rand...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of ketamine on intestinal microcirculation in pentobarbital-anaesthetized rats during experimental endotoxaemia. A prospective, randomized, controlled study was carried out using 32 male Lewis rats. The animals were divided into four groups (n = 8 each). All animals were initially anaesthetized with 60 mg/kg pentobarbital (i.p.). Group 1 se...

It is unclear to what extent the endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) contributes to the control of microcirculatory blood flow in vivo. We analyzed, by intravital microscopy in hamster muscles, the potential role of EDHF along the vascular tree under stimulated (ACh) or basal conditions. Experiments were performed in conscious as well as anesthetized (pentobarbital, urethan) anima...