Assessment of Three Anesthetics Used for Pulmonary Pharmacological Studies in Rats

Experiments on pulmonary pharmacology are often performed in laboratory animals. Investigators collect organs, samples, or record modifications in the respiratory system during anaesthesia, which might significantly influence the data attained. Indeed,  it is recommended to cautiously select the anaesthetic adapted for lung studies. This experiment aimed to evaluate three selected anaesthetics usually used in laboratory animal experiments, namely, (Zolite-rumpon (Z+R) mixture, halothane (HAL), and urethane (URE)) in rats. Rats were divided into four groups, control group, kept without treatment; Zolitel and Rumpon (Z+R) at a dose of 5  and  30  mg/kg body weight intraperitoneally, respectively; HAL group (5% with oxygen supply), and URE (1.5 mg/kg body weight) by inhalation. Blood samples were collected to determine the pH of the blood, bicarbonate (HCO3-), carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2), oxygen partial pressure (pO2), alveolar oxygen (A), saturated oxygen (O2 Sat), magnesium  (Mg2+), calcium (Ca2+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), and chloride (Cl−) ions, haematocrit (Hct), and haemoglobin (Hb). The result indicates that the Z+R mixture causes slight to no differences in the measured data. At the same time, HAL and URE greatly reduced the blood pH and significantly disrupted the values of  HCO3-, pCO2, pO2, A, and O2 Sat. Together, HAL and URE induced metabolic acidosis and respiratory depression. Hence, the Z+R mix is suitable for the three anaesthetics pulmonary pharmacology experiments.