Effect of anesthetics on reflex micturition in the chronic cannula-implanted rat

It is well known that urethane is a suitable anesthetic for acute studies and has been extensively recommended for investigations related to micturition physiology. This is mainly because of the capability of urethane anesthesia to spare reflex micturition as well as its easily established long-lasting and stable anesthetic level. However, urethane anesthesia is usually restricted to acute experiments due to its potential toxicity. This study searched for an alternative to urethane that would be suitable for studies in which recovery from anesthesia was needed. The list of administered drugs was as follows: pentobarbital, thiobutabarbital, ketamine-acepromazine, ketamine-diazepam, tiletamine-zolazepam, fentanyl-droperidol, alphaxalone-alphadolone, propofol, isoflurane, methoxyflurane, azaperone, tribromoethanol, and buprenorphine. Among these drugs, only tiletamine-zolazepam spared the reflex micturition contractions. However, the duration of this anesthesia was too short (approximately 30 minutes) to complete the necessary testing and additional dosing of the anesthetic generally obliterated the micturition reflex. On the other hand, rats given i.v. urethane infusion (10% solution in 0.9% saline, 3.2-4.0 mg/kg/min, total dose 0.56-1.03 g/kg) maintained a stable anesthesia that permitted both reflex micturition and stereotaxic procedures. Rats moved spontaneously 3-16 hours after cessation of i.v. urethane anesthesia and completely recovered in 2 days without significant after-effects. Bladder function was normal. No pathological changes were seen 1 week later. The present results suggest that urethane is the most suitable anesthetic for acute and chronic physiological experiments that require demonstration of reflex micturition. Neurourol. Urodynam. 19:87-99, 2000.