title: Anesthetic effects on fictive locomotion in the rat isolated spinal cord.
abstract: General anesthetic mechanisms are poorly understood. Anesthetic immobilizing effects occur in the spinal ventral horn. However, a detailed analysis of anesthetic effects on ventral motor networks is lacking. We delivered isoflurane, desflurane, or propofol during NMDA/5-HT-induced, or noxious tail stimulus-evoked, fictive locomotion in neonatal rat isolated spinal cords. Anesthetics changed the frequency, amplitude, and regularity of fictive locomotion with little effect on phase-lag. Isoflurane abolished pharmacologically-induced versus noxious stimulus-induced motor output at similar concentrations. Propofol abolished pharmacologically-induced fictive locomotion through a γ-aminobutyric acid type A-receptor mechanism. Anesthetic effects on pharmacologically-elicted fictive locomotion appear clinically-relevant, and support a ventral horn immobilizing effect on locomotor rhythm generation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA. sljinks@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Jinks
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Andrada
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Satter
mesh_terms: D000777:Anesthetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000077335:Desflurane; D007530:Isoflurane / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects*; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D015742:Propofol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics; D000077335:Desflurane; D007530:Isoflurane; D015742:Propofol