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  • Title: Maturation decreases ethanol minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC) more than desflurane MAC in rats.
    Author: Fang Z, Gong D, Ionescu P, Laster MJ, Eger EI, Kendig J.
    Journal: Anesth Analg; 1997 Apr; 84(4):852-8. PubMed ID: 9085970.
    Abstract:
    The potency of conventional inhaled anesthetics increases with increasing age: the 50% effective dose (minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration [MAC]) for anesthesia in the neonatal animal or human exceeds MAC in the young adult by approximately 30% to 60%. We tested whether this relationship also applies to the alkanols, using ethanol as a representative alkanol. We found that the MAC of ethanol in neonatal rats was 1.86 times (86% greater than) the MAC for adult rats, based on ethanol partial pressures determined from brain specimens. In contrast, the MAC of desflurane in neonatal rats was 1.19 times (19% greater than) the MAC for adult rats, less than one-fourth the 86% found for ethanol. These differences must be explained by any unitary theory of narcosis. Alternatively, the mechanistic basis for alkanol versus conventional inhaled anesthetics may differ in part or whole.
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