Key result
Pentobarbital inhibits intracardiac vagal responses in isolated atria without altering adrenergic responses.
Why the study?
The effects of pentobarbital on cardiac autonomic nerve responses, particularly its influence on vagal activity, were not fully characterized.
Pentobarbital's vagal selectivity in canine atria; leaves open translation to human autonomic modulation or arrhythmia management.
The isolated canine atrium was perfused by heparinized blood of the donor dog. An adequate dose of pentobarbital that induced a potent hypotension in the donor did not produce any significant change in the atrial rate and developed tension in the isolated atrium perfused with donor's blood. Pentobarbital in doses that modified neither cardiac responses to intracardiac adrenergic nerve stimulation nor exogenously given norepinephrine or acetylcholine significantly inhibited intracardiac vagal responses. From these results, it is concluded that a large dose of pentobarbital has a dominant antivagal effect in the heart.
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Chiba et al. (2001) studied this question. Pentobarbital was evaluated on Cardiac responses to intracardiac autonomic nerve stimulation. Pentobarbital administration in isolated canine atria significantly inhibited intracardiac vagal responses without modifying responses to adrenergic nerve stimulation.
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