ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of pentobarbital sodium on compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) in rats.Methods Ten adult Sprague-Dawley rats (5 males,5 females),aged 8 weeks,weighing 240-260 g,were anesthetized with intraperitoneal 1％ pentobarbital sodium 40 mg/kg.The sciatic nerve was stimulated (intensity 0.50,0.55 and 0.60 V,wave length 0.05 ms,frequency 10 Hz) starting from 8 min after administration.Each intensity was repeated three times at 1 s interval.The stimulation mentioned above was repeated every 5 min.CMAPs from the gastrocnemius muscle were recorded starting from 8 min after administration (T1) and then were recorded every 5 min for 9 times (T2-10),Results The peak value of CMAP was significantly decreased at T3-5 when the intensity was 0.50,0.55 and 0.60 V,and CMAP latency was significantly prolonged at T3-6 when the intensity was 0.50 V,and at T4,5 when the intensity was 0.55 and 0.60 V as compared with those at T1 ( P ＜ 0.05 or 0.01 ).Conclusion Pentobarbital sodium can inhibit CMAPs in rats.