Title: Effect of alpha‐chloralose, halothane, pentobarbital and nitrous oxide anesthesia on metabolic coupling in somatosensory cortex of rat
Abstract: The effect of various anesthetics on the functional‐metabolic coupling of cerebral cortex was studied in rats submitted to unilateral somatosensory stimulation. The regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMR glc ) was measured autoradiographically using the 2‐deoxyglucose method, and somatosensory activation was carried out by electrical stimulation of the left forepaw. In animals treated with 70% nitrous oxide, 0.5% halothane/70% nitrous oxide or 40 mg/kg pentobarbital, CMR glc of somatosensory cortex did not change despite generation of primary evoked cortical potentials. Anesthesia with 80 mg/kg alpha‐chloralose, in contrast, led to a focal increase of CMR glc in the primary somatosensory cortex from 52.1 ± 18.3 to 73.1 ± 18.9 μmol/100 g/min (means ± s.d.). Metabolic activation was strictly confined to the forelimb (FL) area of somatosensory cortex, and it exhibited a laminar pattern with maximal activation in layers I, II and IV. The preservation of functional‐metabolic coupling under a surgical dose of chloralose renders this anesthetic particularly suited for the investigation of coupling processes under conditions where the experimental requirements preclude the use of unanaesthetized animals.
Publication Year: 1992
Publication Date: 1992-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
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Cited By Count: 203
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