The effects of pentobarbital and ether anesthesia on hypothalamic LH-RH in the rat

The effects of ether and pentobarbital anesthesia on hypothalamic and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) LH-RH content were studied in male rats. Ether elevated hypothalamic LH-RH 30 min after a 3-min exposure; pentobarbital (30 mg/kgital (30mg/kg) caused no change. The ether-induced increase in LH-RH content was not affected by pretreatment with pentobarbital; however, the increase was abolished in animals subjected to hypothalamic deafferentation. Changes in CSF LH-RH generally paralleled the hypothalamic changes; ether, for example, elicited a significant rise. These results demonstrate the complex hypothalamo-pituitary-CSF interactions which occur in response to general anesthetics.