Open AccessA Cutoff in Potency Exists in the Perfluoroalkanes
Author(s) -
Jin Liu,
Michael J. Laster,
Donald D. Koblin,
Edmond I. Eger,
Michael J. Halsey,
Shahram Taheri,
Ben S. Chortkoff
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
anesthesia and analgesia/anesthesia and analgesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.404
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1526-7598
pISSN - 0003-2999
DOI - 10.1213/00000539-199408000-00006
Subject(s) - medicine , cutoff , potency , biochemistry , physics , in vitro , quantum mechanics , chemistry
Anesthetic potencies (minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration [MAC]) of perfluoroalkanes from perfluoromethane to perfluorooctane were assessed in male rats to determine whether a cutoff in anesthetic effect (i.e., an absence of any anesthetic effect) exists for the larger compounds in this series. Although hyperbaric measurements suggested a MAC of 38.9 +/- 6 atm (mean +/- SD) for CF4, this pressure was nearly identical to the lethal pressure of 41.1 +/- 5.8 atm. Hyperbaric studies of C2F6 caused death without causing anesthesia, the lethal pressure being 23.8 +/- 2.6 atm. Results from studies of additivity with desflurane suggested that the MAC of CF4 was 66.5 +/- 13.4 atm at an average CF4 test partial pressure of 17.7 +/- 4.0 atm (i.e., 17.7 atm of CF4 decreased the MAC of desflurane by 26.6%). Studies of additivity with desflurane, isoflurane, or halothane did not reveal an anesthetic effect of C2F6 at a pressure of 7.2 +/- 0.4 atm, or of larger perfluoroalkanes near to or at their saturated vapor pressures. We conclude that a cutoff in anesthetic potency for perfluoroalkanes exists between perfluoromethane and perfluoroethane.