Recovery from pentobarbital-induced sleep after administration of perfluorinated blood substitutes

The sleeping time after administration of pentobarbital at 30 mg/kg body weight (BW) was used in rats as a simple, noninvasive screening test of liver function. In controls, repeated tests showed no shortening of the time and thus no signs of enzyme induction. After the injection of perfluorochemicals in the form of Fluosol-DA at doses of 4.4 and 10 g/kg BW, significant prolongations occurred that, in case of the higher dose, lasted only until the fourth day. The formerly observed liver cell proliferation thus seems to have a compensating effect, since the detoxifying function was restored when the maximum of increased liver mass was reached.