Dual effects of melatonin on barbiturate-induced narcosis in rats.

Drago F, Frisina M, Grech M, Nicolosi A, Micale V, Nicosia A, Medico M, Foti F.

Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Catania Medical School, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy. fdrago tin.it

Melatonin affects the circadian sleep/wake cycle, but it is not clear whether it may influence drug-induced narcosis. Sodium thiopenthal was administered intraperitoneally into male rats pre-treated with melatonin (0.05, 0.5, 5 and 50 mg/kg). Melatonin pre-treatment affected in a dual manner barbiturate narcosis, however, no dose-effect correlation was found. In particular, low doses reduced the latency to and prolonged the duration of barbiturate narcosis. In contrast, the highest dose of melatonin (50 mg/kg) caused a paradoxical increase in the latency and produced a sustained reduction of the duration of narcosis, and a reduction in mortality rate. Melatonin 0.5 and 5 mg/kg influenced the duration but not the latency of ketamine- or diazepam-induced narcosis. Thus, the dual action of melatonin on pharmacological narcosis seems to be specific for the barbiturate mechanism of action.

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11226639&dopt=Abstract barbiturate Butalbital Fioricet





Use of a statistically designed experimental approach to optimize the propylketal derivatization of barbiturates.

Kushnir MM, Urry FM.

ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA.

The derivatization of barbiturates with dimethylformamide dipropylacetal and dimethylformamide diisopropylacetal is studied with respect to the optimization of reaction recovery and reliability. A second-order orthogonal experimental design is utilized in order to obtain regression equations for the reaction recovery dependence on the derivatization solution composition, incubation temperature, and time for amobarbital, butalbital, pentobarbital, phenobarbital, and secobarbital. Regression equations for the effect of incubation temperature and time on the derivative recovery and the optimum conditions for derivatization recoveries are obtained. Differences in the phenomena of the derivative formation are evaluated between the two derivatizing reagents and the barbiturates. Based on the analysis of the obtained equations, it is concluded that the dipropylketal derivative of barbiturates is superior in comparison with diisopropylketal when considering the milder conditions of the reaction, absence of sudden changes in the recovery with a variation in the derivatization parameters, and reliability for the simultaneous testing of the barbiturates. A method for the routine testing of the barbiturates by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in urine specimens is included.

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11318064&dopt=Abstract barbiturate Butalbital Fioricet





Separation of barbiturates and phenylthiohydantoin amino acids using the thermally tuned tandem column concept.

Mao Y, Carr PW.

Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Smith and Kolthoff Hall, 207 Pleasant Street SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, USA.

There are many more choices of column type than of eluent type for method development in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. It is common to switch between different column types or between the same type from different suppliers to achieve the desired separations. The key difficulty in modulating band spacing by adjusting the column type is that it is a discontinuous, "hit or miss" proposition. The thermally tuned tandem column (T3C) concept effectively solves this problem by connecting two columns in series and independently controlling the two column temperatures. The columns are chosen to have distinctively different chromatographic selectivities (band spacing), so that the unresolved peaks on one column are separated by the other. The optimized separation in the T3C is achieved by simultaneously tuning the two column temperatures. In this study, we used the T3C combination of a carbon and a conventional bonded phase for the separation of barbiturates and phenylthiohydantoin amino acids (PTH-amino acids). Good peak shapes and comparable retention times were observed on the two phases at room temperature. The selectivities on the two phases are quite different. Baseline separations were easily achieved with the T3C set although neither column could individually resolve all the peaks. We further compared the separation of barbiturates optimized by the T3C approach with that optimized by adjusting the mobile phase. We found that T3C gave a better separation. We believe that the T3C combination of a carbon phase and a bonded conventional reversed-phase material provides a powerful and general method to optimize the separation of various mixtures.

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11338597&dopt=Abstract barbiturate Butalbital Fioricet





Inhibitory effects of barbiturates on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in rat central nervous system neurons.

Kamiya Y, Andoh T, Watanabe I, Higashi T, Itoh H.

Department of Anesthesiology, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Japan.

BACKGROUND: Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are widely expressed in the central and autonomic nervous systems. The authors have previously shown that depressant and convulsant barbiturates both inhibit the ganglion-type nAchRs in PC12 cells. However, the central and gangliontype receptors have different subunit composition and pharmacologic properties. In this study, the authors investigated the effects of thiopental, depressant [R(-)] and convulsant [S(+)] stereoisomers of 1-methyl-5 phenyl-5-propyl barbituric acid (MPPB) on neuronal nAChRs in the rat central nervous system to explore significance of these effects in barbiturate anesthesia. METHODS: Whole-cell currents were measured in acutely dissociated rat medial habenula (MHb) neurons by applying 10 or 100 microM nicotine in the absence or presence of thiopental 3-100 microM. Effects of R(-)- and S(+)-MPPB on the nicotine-induced current were also studied. RESULTS: Thiopental suppressed the nicotine-elicited inward current and accelerated the current decay dose-dependently at the clinical relevant concentrations. R(-)- and S(+)-MPPB both inhibited the nicotine-induced current dose-dependently without augmenting the current decay. There was no significant difference in the magnitudes of inhibition by R(-)- and S(+)-MPPB. CONCLUSIONS: Although thiopental suppressed the current mediated through native nAchRs in rat MHb neurons at the clinically relevant concentrations, the depressant and convulsant stereoisomers of MPPB both inhibited the current in the same extent. These findings are consistent with the results previously obtained in the ganglion-type receptors of PC12 cells and suggest that inhibition of nAChRs in MHb neurons is not directly relevant to the hypnotic or anticonvulsive actions of barbiturates.

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11379692&dopt=Abstract barbiturate Butalbital Fioricet