Duration of hexobarbital-induced sleep and monoamine oxidase activities in rat brain: Focus on the behavioral activity and on the free-radical oxidation.

The present study is focused on the relationship between monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity and hepatic content of cytochrome P450 (CYP), which reflects the status of microsomal oxidation. For vital integrative evaluation of hepatic microsomal oxidation in rats, the hexobarbital sleep test was used, and content of CYP was measured in hepatic microsomes. Rats with short hexobarbital sleep time (SHST) had higher content of microsomal CYP than rats with long hexobarbital sleep time (LHST). Whole brain MAO-A and MAO-B activities, serotonin and carbonylated protein levels were higher in SHST than in LHST rats. MAO-A and MAO-B activities were higher in brain cortex of SHST rats; MAO-A activity was higher only in hypothalamus and medulla of LHST. The same brain regions of LHST rats had higher concentrations of carbonylated proteins and lipid peroxidation products than in SHST rats. MAO activity was correlated with microsomal oxidation phenotype. Rats with higher hepatic content of CYP had higher activities of MAO-A and MAO-B in the brain and higher plasma serotonin levels than rats with lower microsomal oxidation. In conclusion, data obtained in this study showed a correlation between MAO activity and microsomal oxidation phenotype.

Hepatoprotective studies on Hedyotis corymbosa (L.) Lam.

Hedyotis corymbosa is used in traditional medicine of India and China to treat various hepatic disorders. In the present study, the hepatoprotective effect of the methanolic extract of the whole plant of Hedyotis corymbosa against paracetamol overdose-induced liver damage in Wistar rats was studied. The methanolic extract of the plant produced significant hepatoprotective effects as evidenced by decreased serum enzyme activities, SGPT, SGOT, SAKP and serum bilirubin and an almost normal histological architecture of the liver, in treated groups, compared to the controls. Hedyotis corymbosa shortened hexobarbitone-induced sleeping time in mice, besides showing significant antilipid peroxidant effect in vitro. The results thus support the use of Hedyotis corymbosa as a hepatoprotective agent.

[Sex factors in effects of aerogenic toxic substances on the duration of hexenal-induced sleep]. / Polovye osobennosti deistviia aérogennykh toksicheskikh veshchestv na prodolzhitel'nost' geksenalovogo sna u krys.

Inhalant poisoning with low doses of toxicants during 3 months resulted in slowing the biotransformation of hexenal in male rats, whereas lead acetate and sulphur dioxide were less active. Unlike the male rats, phenol in female ones prolonged hexenal-induced dream. Ammonia did not effect the biotransformation, whereas formaldehyde, lead acetate and sulphur dioxide accelerated it. Sex--linked dimorphism of MOS has been suggested to determine more pronounced hepatotoxicity of the compounds under exploration in male rats.

Neonatal phenobarbital-induced defects in age- and sex-specific growth hormone profiles regulating monooxygenases.

Growth hormone was secreted in sexually dimorphic patterns in both 65- and 150-day-old rats (i.e., "on-off" pulsatile for males and "continuous" pulsatile for females), but as a result of a 200-400% increase in pulse levels the mean concentration of hormone in the circulation was about two times as great in the younger animals. Neonatal exposure to phenobarbital at anticonvulsant therapeutic doses for the rat reduced the pulse amplitudes of circulating growth hormone in both the 65- and 150-day-old males but only in the 65-day-old females. As expected, neonatal administration of the barbiturate produced an almost immediate increase in the activities of the hepatic monooxygenases, as measured by hexobarbital metabolism, which declined to noninduction levels after treatment ceased. Contrary to the well-known transient effects of phenobarbital, at around the time of sexual maturity when gender-dependent differences in hepatic monooxygenases appear (males > females), we observed a second "round" of enzyme induction that persisted in both sexes for the remainder of the study (180 days). Because growth hormone is the primary regulator of sex-dependent hepatic monooxygenases, we have proposed that the abnormal plasma growth hormone profiles produced by neonatal phenobarbital are responsible for the permanent induction of hepatic monooxygenases.

Midazolam does not antagonize fentanyl-mediated analgesia in surgical patients.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine whether midazolam possesses a clinically significant antianalgesic action in surgical patients. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled study. SETTING: Inpatient anesthesia at a university department of neurosurgery. PATIENTS: 2 groups of 10 patients each who were scheduled for supratentorial brain surgery, did not have elevated intracranial pressure, and were free from systemic disease. INTERVENTIONS: Patients underwent anesthesia induction with hexobarbital, succinylcholine, and pancuronium; anesthesia was maintained with injections of droperidol-fentanyl (Group 1) or with midazolam-fentanyl (Group 2) following a predetermined repetitive dosing schedule, such that fentanyl 0.1 mg was injected upon predominant increases in heart rate, whereas droperidol 2.5 mg or midazolam 2.5 mg was injected upon increases in blood pressure. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Duration of anesthesia and invasiveness of surgery were similar in both groups. The amount of fentanyl required was 0.55 +/- 0.18 mg/hr (mean +/- SD) in Group 1 and 0.53 +/- 0.17 mg/hr in Group 2. Injections of droperidol 7.5 +/- 3.4 mg/hr (Group 1) and midazolam 5.9 +/- 2.3 mg/hr (Group 2) were administered intraoperatively. This redosing regimen was associated with uninterrupted hemodynamic stability, indicating comparable and adequate anesthetic depth. Plasma concentrations of metabolites and hormones indicative of humoral stress activation did not differ between groups. CONCLUSION: Under these clinical conditions, the administration of midazolam, when compared with droperidol, was not associated with signs of any antagonistic or antianalgesic action toward fentanyl-mediated analgesia.

[Effect of Oren-gedoku-to on changes in hexobarbital-induced sleeping time in chlorpromazine-treated mice].

The effects of Oren-gedoku-to on the hypnotic duration induced by hexobarbital, and on the change of this duration in chlorpromazine-treated mice were investigated. Single dose of Oren-gedoku-to (1.0 or 2.0 g/kg, p.o.) or chlorpromazine (10 mg/kg, p.o.) prolonged the hexobarbital hypnosis time. And the simultaneous dose of chlorpromazine (6.0 mg/kg, p.o.) and Orengedoku-to (1.0 g/kg, p.o.) indicated the equal effect for the administration of chlorpromazine (10.0 mg/kg, p.o.) alone. Although the mechanism of the action remains to be unknown, administration of Oren-gedoku-to in combination with chlorpromazine seems to be useful from the standpoint of alleviation of the side-effects caused by less dose.

[Turnover of liver hemoproteins in guinea pigs with various resistance to hexenal after peroral sensitization]. / Obnovlenie gemoproteinov pecheni morskikh svinok s razlichnoi ustoichivost'iu k geksenalu pri peroral'noi sensibilizatsii.

Patterns of hemoproteins turnover were studied in microsomal and mitochondrial fractions of liver tissue of guinea pigs with various duration of hexenal sleep; these patterns were calculated by means of modified procedure involving incorporation of 14C-aminolevulinic acid. Increase in turnover of microsomal cytochromes corresponded to decrease of their content in animals with short-term sleep simultaneously with a decrease in the lethal index after sensitization by means of ovalbumin.

Comparison of anaesthetic and kinetic properties of thiobutabarbital, butabarbital and hexobarbital after intravenous threshold doses in the male rat.

Due to the exceptionally long duration of action of thiobutbarbital the anaesthetic properties of this barbiturate was reinvestigated with an intravenous threshold technique using butabarbital and hexobarbital as references. Adult male rats were used. The criterion of anaesthesia was a burst suppression in the EEG of 1 sec. or more (the "silent second" = SS). The dose which induced the criterion was used as a threshold. The barbiturates were infused with different rates to obtain dose rate curves. After induction of the threshold criterion the animals were either killed and different tissue concentrations were analyzed with a HPLC method or allowed to survive and duration of SS and duration of loss of righting reflex were recorded. With hexobarbital, duration of SS and of loss of righting reflex increased significantly with increasing dose rate. With increasing rates of thiobutabarbital and butabarbital there was in both cases a stepwise increase in duration of SS. At sacrifice, after induction of SS with slow rates brain concentrations of both thiobutabarbital and butabarbital were lower than values recorded after higher rates. The change between the two concentrations was abrupt and occurred at a rate of 20 mg/kg/min. with thiobutabarbital and at the rate of 1.25 mg/kg/min. with butabarbital. This phenomenon was the reverse of acute tolerance which was recorded with hexobarbital and can thus be denoted acute supersensitivity. A kinetic analysis of serum, muscle and fat indicated considerable differences between the barbiturates. As indicated by mortality figures the induction of acute supersensitivity could be potentially dangerous.

Relationship between the metabolism of antipyrine, hexobarbitone and theophylline in man as assessed by a 'cocktail' approach.

1. Three model substrates for the characterization of drug oxidation activity, antipyrine (AP), hexobarbitone (HB) and theophylline (TH), were administered to 26 healthy volunteers on two different occasions: in the first experiment a combination of AP (250 mg) and HB (250 mg) was given and in the second experiment TH (150 mg) was added to the former combination. 2. Plasma concentrations of AP, HB and TH and urinary excretion of TH and the three main metabolites of AP (3-hydroxymethylantipyrine: HMA, norantipyrine: NORA and 4-hydroxyantipyrine: OHA) were determined and the intrinsic clearance (CLint) of the three substrates and the clearance to the formation of AP metabolites were calculated. 3. The correlation coefficients between CLHB and CL-greater than metabolites of AP were highest for CL-greater than HMA and CL-greater than NORA (greater than 0.80) and lowest for CL-greater than OHA (0.63). High correlation coefficients also were found between CLTH and CL-greater than OHA (0.89) and CL-greater than HMA (0.80). 4. Ideal relationships, defined by a slope of the orthogonal regression line equal to unity, did exist between CLHB and CL-greater than HMA as well as CL-greater than NORA and between CLTH and CLAP as well as CL-greater than OHA. 5. Based on the results of correlation and regression analysis it can be concluded that isozymes of the cytochrome P-450 system responsible for the oxidation of HB and formation of HMA and NORA are very closely related and also that isozymes responsible for the oxidation of TH and formation of OHA show a very close relation. 6. With this strategy of simultaneous administration of substrates ('cocktail' approach) it seems possible to characterize and correlate activities of different P-450 isozymes and to investigate their in vivo substrate selectivity without the disturbing influence of intra-individual variation in drug oxidation.

Anaesthetic effects of flurazepam alone and in combination with thiopental or hexobarbital evaluated with an EEG-threshold method in male rats.

The anaesthetic effects of a benzodiazepine derivate, flurazepam, and the anaesthetic interaction between flurazepam and 2 barbiturates, thiopental and hexobarbital, were studied in male rats using an EEG-threshold method. The criterion of anaesthesia was defined by a burst suppression in the EEG of 1 sec or more (the "silent second"). The dose needed to induce the criterion was used as the threshold. The data on the interaction were evaluated with the isobolographic method. Flurazepam alone infused with different rates gave an almost V-shaped dose-rate curve. Convulsive activity was seen in all rats in connection with the EEG-criterion. The mortality during anaesthesia increased with increased infusion rates of flurazepam. The anaesthetic interaction between thiopental-flurazepam and hexobarbital-flurazepam was with low admixture of flurazepam, a pronounced potentiation. With increased admixture of flurazepam, an additive interaction with thiopental and flurazepam was obtained, whereas an antagonistic interaction was obtained with hexobarbital and flurazepam. Convulsive activity and mortality during anaesthesia in the interaction studies were only observed in tests where high admixtures of flurazepam were used.

Influence of the rate of hepatic portal vein infusion on hexobarbital pharmacokinetics in the rat.

Pharmacokinetic parameters of hexobarbital were estimated in rats after hepatic portal infusion of a 10-mg dose. Infusion during 10 min resulted in an area under the blood concentration-time curve (AUC) of 556 +/- 83 micrograms.min/ml and a clearance of 83 +/- 13 ml/min.kg, whereas infusion of the same dose during 40 min resulted in values of 272 +/- 36 micrograms.min/ml and 169 +/- 30 ml/min.kg, respectively (mean values +/- SD, n = 3). Infusion during 15 and 20 min provided intermediate values. The decrease of the AUC and the increase of the blood clearance of hexobarbital following decreasing infusion rates clearly indicate nonlinear pharmacokinetics related to the hepatic inflow concentration of hexobarbital.

Effects of aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitors on hexobarbital sensitivity and neuroamine metabolism in rat brain.

Several authors have found that the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) inhibitor, disulfiram, prolongs hexobarbital-induced anaesthesia. It was suggested that this effect was caused by an alteration of the serotonergic system in brain, mediated by elevated levels of biogenic aldehydes. In the present study, disulfiram (300 mg/kg) was found to cause a 4-fold prolongation of hexobarbital-induced anaesthesia, while coprine (another potent ALDH-inhibitor) had no effect. This strongly suggested that biogenic aldehydes were not involved in this effect of disulfiram. The hexobarbital concentration in brain, at the electroencephalogram (EEG) criteria used for measuring hexobarbital sensitivity, was unaffected in rats given 75-300 mg/kg disulfiram, indicating that factors other than an increased brain hexobarbital sensitivity were responsible for the prolonged anaesthesia. Also 10-100 mg/kg coprine did not affect hexobarbital sensitivity measured this way. No alteration of the dopamine level in brain was found in rats given disulfiram, and in both disulfiram- and coprine-treated rats, similar changes in the serotonergic system were found. However, the level of norepinephrine was decreased in brains of disulfiram-treated rats, but it was unaffected by coprine. Thus, norepinephrine may have been involved in the prolongation of hexobarbital-induced anaesthesia caused by disulfiram.

Correlation between the metabolism of hexobarbital and aminopyrine in vivo in rats.

Two model substrates for oxidative hepatic enzyme activity, namely hexobarbital and aminopyrine, were simultaneously orally administered to rats, and blood concentrations of the substrates measured by g.l.c. The apparent intrinsic clearances of hexobarbital (Cl*int.HB) and of aminopyrine (Cl*int,AM) were correlated in untreated rats, and in rats pretreated with phenobarbital, 3-methylcholanthrene, polychlorinated biphenyls or carbon tetrachloride. Cl*int,HB and Cl*int,AM were both increased by phenobarbital and polychlorinated biphenyl pretreatment. Pretreatment with 3-methylcholanthrene had hardly any effect, and carbon tetrachloride caused a strong diminution of Cl*int.HB and Cl*int.AM. When the dose of aminopyrine was decreased, both Cl*int,HB and Cl*int,AM increased. This indicated that the primary metabolite of aminopyrine, monomethylaminopyrine, inhibits cytochrome P-450. The correlation coefficient for all clearance data was 0.92 (N = 36). It was concluded that both hexobarbital and aminopyrine are metabolized in vivo by the same or closely related cytochrome P-450 isozymes, and both may be used as model substrates in vivo for metabolic conversions primarily mediated by the major phenobarbital-inducible cytochrome P-450 subspecies.

Intra-arterial administration of hexobarbital enantiomers to the rat: disposition and estimation of apparent extraction ratio.

The enantiomers of hexobarbital, designated as S(+)-HB and R(-)-HB, were administered intra-arterially to rats in a dose of 25 mg X kg-1. Blood pharmacokinetics of the parent compound and two metabolites as well as urinary excretion of three major metabolites were studied. Using previously obtained data following oral administration of S(+)-HB and R(-)-HB two different methods for calculation of the hepatic extraction ratio (E) were compared. The metabolite profile in the urine after intra-arterial administration was not basically different from corresponding data on oral administration. The clearance of low-dose, intra-arterially administered S(+)-HB is useful as an indicator of hepatic blood flow in the rat.

Route- and dose-dependent pharmacokinetics of hexobarbitone in the rat: a re-evaluation of the use of sleeping times in metabolic studies.

The metabolic clearance (CL) and half-life of racemic hexobarbitone and sleeping time were studied in rats following intra-arterial (i.a.), intraperitoneal (i.p.) and oral (p.o.) administration, at dose levels of 25 and 100 mg kg-1 of its sodium salt. CLp.o. was higher than CLi.a. at both 25 and 100 mg kg-1. CLi.a. and CLi.p. values were much lower, but CLi.p. was higher than CLi.a. at 25 mg kg-1 and lower than CLi.a. at 100 mg kg-1. There was no distinct dependency of the half-lives on route of administration, but a slight increase upon increasing the dose was observed. Hexobarbitone blood concentrations at which the rats awoke were significantly higher after 100 mg kg-1 i.p. than after 100 mg kg-1 i.a., although there was only a small difference in sleeping time. It is postulated that the rate of uptake of the barbiturates into the portal system after i.p. administration is so high that transient saturation of hepatic first-pass metabolism occurs. Therefore neither CLi.p. nor sleeping times can be used as an accurate reflection of drug-metabolizing enzyme activity in the rat; instead CLp.o. should be used.

[Activity of nonspecific hepatic oxidases and the biological effects of the antineoplastic antibiotic adriamycin]. / Aktivnost' nespetsificheskikh oksidaz pecheni i biologicheskie éffekty protivoopukholevogo antibiotika adriamitsina.

It was shown in male CBA mice that toxic doses (15 and 20 mg/kg) of adriamycin (AD) inhibited the activity of nonspecific liver oxidases and noticeably increased the duration of the animals' sleep after injection of hexenal which is a substrate of this enzymatic system. The inhibitory effect of AD remained unchanged in the course of 9 days of the experiment. The nontoxic dose of AD (5 mg/kg) inhibited the activity of the enzymatic system on the 2nd--3rd days after the injection of the drug. Meanwhile the activity of the enzymatic system returned to the level seen in intact animals by days 5--6. The toxic action of AD declined on activation of nonspecific liver oxidases with phenobarbital and rose as a result of administering the inhibitor SKF 525-A. The authors discuss whether it is possible to use the data obtained for clinical application of AD.

[Psychotropic properties of the tetrapeptide taftsin and its effect on learning]. / Psikhotropnye svoistva i vliianie na obuchenie tetrapeptida taftsina.

Experiments on mice and rats have disclosed that taftsin so far known for its stimulatory action on phagocytosis has psychotropic properties. Taftsin potentiates the motor and orienting activity of the animals, reduces the effects of hexenal, reserpine, potentiates the action of amphetamine and arecoline. It shortens the latent period and time of the reaction during training of the rats in a T-shaped maze, but does not increase the number of the training animals. The effect of taftsin has a biphasic nature and seems likely to be related to the effect on alpha-adrenergic systems of the brain.

Hexobarbitone disposition at different stages of intensive care treatment.

The pharmacokinetics of hexobarbitone were investigated in 22 patients in an intensive care unit. The results were compared with those obtained in a healthy group for three time periods: 3rd or 4th day (I), 5-8th days (II) and 13-29th days (III) of treatment. Hexobarbitone 7.32 mg per kg of body weight was administered by i.v. infusion in 60 min. At the end of the infusion, the mean plasma concentration of group I was 71% greater than control group; groups II and III were near to control. In all patients the post-infusion concentration-time course of hexobarbitone could be described by two-compartment kinetics. The biphasic decrease in plasma concentration of hexobarbitone was more rapid in groups II and III, than in either the control group or in group I. At the beginning of treatment patients generally showed an unchanged hexobarbitone half-life, a slightly decreased plasma clearance, a reduction of approximately 50% of the initial distribution volume. (V1) and a reduction of 44% of the distribution volume at steady state. In groups II and III the mean of these values were comparable to control. However, plasma clearance had increased by about 87% in group II compared with control, and after 2-3 weeks (group III) by about 143%. Correspondingly, half-life was reduced by 45% and 58% respectively. The pharmacokinetics were not related to change in liver function. The presence of clinical and bacteriological signs of septicaemia was closely associated with an enhanced hexobarbitone clearance.

[Mechanism of pantogam potentiation of certain effects of hexobarbital and sodium barbital and inhibition of phenamine hyperactivity]. / K mekhanizmu potentsirovaniia pantogamom nekotorykh éffektov geksobarbitala i barbital-natriia i ingibirovaniia fenaminovoi giperaktivnosti.

Experiments on albino mice and rats have shown that pantogam, a derivative of pantothenic acid, potentiates the hypnotic effects of hexobarbital and barbital and enhances the effect of subthreshold doses of hexobarbital. The drug inhibits the amphetamine action in the amphetamine hyperaction test without affecting hexobarbital and amphetamine metabolism, or without increasing the blood-brain barrier permeability for these compounds and barbital. Pantogam does not influence the intensity of ethylmorphine N-demethylation in liver homogenates and the content of cytochrome P 450 and b5 in liver microsomes.

Metabolic and psychophysiologic studies of cannabidiol-hexobarbital interaction.

Cannabidiol (CBD), 600 mg/day orally for 5 to 12 days, inhibited hexobarbital metabolism in ten subjects. Hexobarbital oral clearance was 36% lower and apparent volume of distribution was 35% smaller, with no change in half-life during CBD. In four subjects who received intravenous and oral hexobarbital, systemic clearance was 36% lower while bioavailability was 10% greater during CBD. Hexobarbital increased fatigue and tremor, impaired eye-tracking performance, and altered the electroencephalogram. Hexobarbital effects were not affected by CBD. Inhibition of metabolism of other drugs should be considered when large amounts of CBD are taken or when CBD is used for therapy.