Reduction in halothane anesthetic requirement by clonidine, an alpha-adrenergic agonist

The effects of clonidine, a potent central alpha-adrenergic agonist, and of tolazoline, an alpha-adrenergic antagonist, on the minimal anesthetic concentration (MAC) of halothane were studied in male mongrel dogs. Control halothane MAC was 0.8 +/- 0.04 vol% (determined in each dog by gas chromatography of arterial blood, n = 30). Clonidine, 5 microgram/kg (n = 10) and 20 microgram/kg (n = 10), give slowly intravenously, maximally reduced MAC by 42% (at 2.3 hours after clonidine) and 48% (at 2.6 hours after clonidine) for each dose. In another set of animals (n = 5) an alpha-adrenergic antagonist, tolazoline, 5 mg/kg IV, reversed the clonidine-induced reduction in halothane MAC rapidly and completely. Tolazoline alone, 5 mg/kg, (n = 5) had no significant effect on halothane MAC. Thus, the administration of the central alpha-adrenergic agonist clonidine decreased the required anesthetic concentration of halothane, as defined by MAC, by almost half. This effect, as it is reversed by tolazoline, is likely to be mediated through a central alpha-adrenergic receptor mechanism.