title: Does vitamin C prevent the effects of high dose dexmedetomidine on rat erythrocyte deformability?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dexmedetomidine is an anesthetic agent frequently used for sedation at the intensive care units and during general anesthesia. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether vitamin C prevents the effect of high dose dexmedetomidine on erythrocyte deformability in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was performed on 21 male rats, with 7 rats in each study groups and the control group. The rats in the study groups were treated with intraperitoneal dexmedetomidine (10 µg/kg) and intraperitoneal dexmedetomidine plus Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) (100 mg/kg ascorbic acid administered 1 hour before administration of 10 µg/kg dexmedetomidine), respectively. Intraperitoneal physiological saline was administered in the control group. Erythrocyte packs were prepared using heparinized total blood samples. Deformability measurements were done by erythrocyte suspensions in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) buffer. A constant flow filtrometer system was used to measure erythrocyte deformability and the relative resistance was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Erythrocyte deformability was significantly higher in dexmedetomidine group than in control and vitamin C plus dexmedetomidine groups (p=0.003, p=0.013, respectively). Erythrocyte deformability indexes were found similar in the control group and in the vitamin C plus dexmedetomidine group (p=0.383).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High dose dexmedetomidine may cause functional deterioration in blood flow and tissue perfusion with negative effects in erythrocyte deformability. Vitamin C supplementation seems to reverse those negative effects and variations in erythrocyte deformability. However, our preliminary results should be confirmed in wider serious of experimental and clinical trials (Fig. 1, Ref. 27).
authors.affiliation: Gazi University Medical University, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kurtipek
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Comu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alkan
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pampal
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arslan
mesh_terms: D058647:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000494:pharmacology; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020927:Dexmedetomidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004907:Erythrocyte Deformability / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D058647:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D020927:Dexmedetomidine; D001205:Ascorbic Acid