Abstract
1. The effects of temperature on the anaesthetic potencies of halothane, enflurane and ethanol have been studied in the water flea Daphnia magna. 2. In the absence of anaesthetics, decreasing temperature resulted in decreased activity by the daphnids. 3. Potencies in the gas phase decreased with increasing temperature for all of the anaesthetics, while aqueous potency decreased for halothane and enflurane but increased for ethanol. 4. Enthalpy calculations suggest that the observed potency changes for the inhalational anaesthetics cannot be accounted for in terms of changing solubility in lipid bilayers but most likely reflect more specific interactions with animal target sites.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 15-19 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part C, Comparative |
| Volume | 101 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1992 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgements-Thisw ork was supportedb y a grant from the SheffieldU niversityR esearchF und and a grant to NPF and WRL from the U.S. National Instituteso f Health (GM 41609)W. e are gratefult o ProfessorN immo and Dr Riley for the use of facilitiesi n the Departmenot f Anaestheticsa t SheffieldU niversity.