Systemic responses to carotid occlusion in the anesthetized rat

We evaluated the effects of four standard anesthetization regimens on the systemic cardiovascular responses to bilateral common carotid artery occlusion in 28 adult male rats. Rats were randomly assigned to anesthesia groups: thiopental sodium (PT; 100 mg/kg ip), alpha-chloralose (CH; 100 mg/kg iv), ketamine hydrochloride plus acepromazine (KA; 135 mg/kg and 1.5 mg/kg sc), and pentobarbital sodium (PB; 50 mg/kg ip). PT and PB animals had similar baseline heart rates (HR; 333 and 345 beats/min, respectively) and arterial pressures (MAP; 126 and 118 mmHg, respectively), whereas both were lower in CH and KA (314 and 288 beats/min, 92 and 85 mmHg). During bilateral carotid occlusion, PT demonstrated the largest change in MAP (dMAP; +27 mmHg) but the smallest change in HR (dHR; +8 beats/min). CH and PB demonstrated similar dHR (+24 and +16 beats/min) and dMAP (+20 and +19 mmHg). KA demonstrated a significant dHR (+14 beats/min), but the average dMAP was not statistically significant (+3 mmHg). Therefore, carotid occlusion in rats anesthetized with PT, PB, or CH consistently elicits a systemic arterial pressor response comparable with that reported for conscious animals. When the magnitude and stability of baseline HR and MAP are also considered, PT and PB anesthetization seem to be the most reliable for evaluation of the carotid occlusion pressor response in rats.