Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2026

Halogenated Agent Delivery in Porcine Model of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome via an Intensive Care Unit Type Device
Published on: September 24, 2020
Effects of halogenated anaesthetics on diaphragmatic actin-myosin cross-bridge kinetics
O Langeron1, B Bouhemad, G Orliaguet
1Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Pitié-Salpêtrière, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. olivier.langeron@psl.ap-hop-paris.fr
Background:
The effects of halogenated anaesthetics on cross-bridge (CB) kinetics are unclear. As halogenated anaesthetics do not markedly modify the intracellular calcium transient in the diaphragm, we used an isolated rat diaphragm preparation to assess the effects of halothane and isoflurane on CB kinetics.
Methods:
The effects of halothane and isoflurane (1 and 2 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC)) on rat diaphragm muscle strips were studied in vitro (Krebs-Henseleit solution, 29 degrees C, oxygen 95%/carbon dioxide 5%) in tetanus mode (50 Hz). From the force-velocity curve and using A. F. Huxley's equations, we determined the main mechanical and energetic variables and calculated CB kinetics.
Results:
At 1 and 2 MAC, isoflurane and halothane induced no significant inotropic effects. Whatever the concentrations tested, halothane and isoflurane did not significantly modify the CB number, the elementary force per CB, the attachment and detachment constants, the duration of the CB cycle and mean CB velocity.
Conclusion:
In the rat diaphragm at therapeutic concentrations, halogenated anaesthetics do not significantly modify CB mechanical and kinetic properties.
Related Concept Videos
Skeletal Muscle Relaxants: Adverse Effects
Unlike...
ortho–para-Directing Deactivators: Halogens
Skeletal Muscle Relaxants: Therapeutic Uses
Depolarizing Blockers: Mechanism of Action
Succinylcholine is the most commonly used depolarizing blocker. Chemically, it constitutes two molecules of acetylcholine joined together by an acetate methyl group. They act on the receptors in the same way as acetylcholine. Because succinylcholine...
Inhalational Anesthetics: Overview
Depolarizing Blockers: Pharmocokinetics

