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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Assessing Changes in Volatile General Anesthetic Sensitivity of Mice after Local or Systemic Pharmacological Intervention
Published on: October 17, 2013
Reserpine-induced changes in anesthetic action of fentanyl
Abstract:
The effect of prior administration of reserpine on fentanyl dose-response curves for loss of the righting reflex and prevention of purposeful movement response to noxious stimulation was studied in rats. It was found that reserpine (5 mg X kg-1, 3 h before the tests) antagonized the effect of fentanyl on purposeful movement response to the tail clamp and, at the same time, strengthened its effect on the righting reflex. As a result, reserpine pretreatment reversed the order of fentanyl potency regarding these two effects. Reserpine changed fentanyl ED50 values for the purposeful movement response from 8.2 to 20.3 micrograms X kg-1 (P less than 0.0001) and for the righting reflex from 20.5 to 13.7 micrograms X kg-1 (P less than 0.0001). The results suggest that reserpine dissociates the analgesic action of fentanyl from its anesthetic action, defined as a loss of the righting reflex. This may be regarded as an indication that the analgesic action of narcotics may not adequately reflect their anesthetic potency.
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