Murine auto- and cross-tolerance to volatile anaesthetics

Auto-tolerance and cross-tolerance to halothane, isoflurane and enflurane were tested on 36 mice divided into three equal groups. Each group was first exposed to increasing concentrations of either of the three anesthetics on 13 occasions. The concentration at which each mouse lost its righting reflex during successive exposures in a rotating cage was noted. Cross-tolerance was assessed by comparing the number of mice which had lost their righting reflexes during their first exposure to a given anaesthetic agent to the number which lost it after having been exposed to another anaesthetic. All animals developed auto-tolerance to halothane, isoflurane and enflurane. Cross-tolerance was noted only between mice exposed to isoflurane and enflurane and between mice exposed to halothane and subsequently anaesthetized with isoflurane, but not vice versa.