CNS tolerance to the hypnotic effect of pentobarbital in rats by injections of pentobarbital suspension

Pharmacodynamics of tolerance development to the anesthetic and anticonvulsant effects of phenobarbital in rats

In this study, the potential development of tolerance towards the anesthetic and anticonvulsant effects of phenobarbital after chronic administration to rats was investigated, differentiating between dispositional and functional tolerance. Chronic exposure to phenobarbital by daily ip injections of 20 or 100 mg/kg for 14 days caused a 30% increase in clearance within 1 week. No changes occurred in the total amounts of phenobarbital and para-hydroxyphenobarbital excreted into urine and feces. Pharmacodynamic effects were quantitated after 2 weeks of treatment. The anesthetic effect was measured by slow iv infusion of phenobarbital until onset of loss of righting reflex (LRR), followed by measurement of drug concentrations in serum (both total and free), brain, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). With a phenobarbital dose of 100 mg/kg daily, CSF concentrations at the onset of LRR significantly increased from 136 +/- 12 to 176 +/- 21 mg/L (p less than 0.001), indicating that functional tolerance developed for the anesthetic effect. Protection of phenobarbital against convulsions induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ), as measured by the elevation of the PTZ plasma threshold concentration necessary to elicit seizures at the EC50 of phenobarbital, was not altered. The discrepancy observed in the development of functional adaptation of the CNS demonstrates that different mechanisms of action are reflected in the different measures of the anesthetic and anticonvulsant effects of phenobarbital that were utilized.

Similar development of tolerance to barbital-induced inhibition of avoidance behavior and loss of righting reflex in rats

In order to determine if tolerance develops to the inhibition of avoidance behavior by the barbiturates, the effects of barbital on avoidance were determined in rats given barbital in their sole source of drinking water for 7 or 33 days. For comparison tolerance to the loss of righting reflex was also determined in other rats at the same time. All rats were trained by one 60-min session in a one-way active avoidance task; they were then put on the chronic drug administration schedule and then tested on the appropriate day after a single IP injection of 250 mg/kg sodium barbital. To assess the degree of tolerance, the brain level of barbital found at the biological endpoint--the loss of avoidance or loss of righting reflex--was compared in the chronic barbital treated rats and controls. A similar degree of tolerance developed to both effects of the drug and it appeared to be as great after 7 as after 33 days of chronic barbital treatment.