High pressure and anesthesia: pressure stimulates or inhibits bacterial bioluminescence depending upon temperature

Although high pressure is often viewed as a nonspecific stimulus counteracting anesthesia, pressure can either excite or inhibit biological activity depending on the temperature at application. Temperature and pressure are two independent variables that determine equilibrium quantity, e.g., the state of organisms in terms of activity and anesthesia depth. We used the light intensity of luminous bacteria (Vibrio fischeri) as an activity parameter, and studied the effects of pressure and anesthetics on the bacteria's light intensity at various temperatures. The light intensity was greatest at about 30 degrees C at ambient pressure. When the system was pressurized up to 204 atm, the temperature for maximum light intensity was shifted to higher temperatures. Above the optimal temperature for the maximal light intensity, high pressure increased the light intensity. Below the optimal temperature, pressure decreased light intensity. Pressure only shifts the reaction equilibrium to the lower volume state (Le Chatelier's principle). When the volume of the excited state is larger than the resting state, high pressure inhibits excitation, and vice versa. Halothane 0.008 atm and isoflurane 0.021 atm inhibited the light intensity both above and below the optimal temperature. When pressurized, the light intensity increased in the high temperature range but decreased in the low temperature range, as in the control. Thus, high pressure seemingly potentiated the anesthetic action at low temperatures. When the ratio of the light intensity in bacteria exposed to anesthesia and those not exposed to anesthesia was plotted against the pressure, however, the value approached unity in proportion to the pressure increase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)