Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T21:10:39.848Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Desflurane increases heart rate independent of sympathetic activity in dogs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2005

O. Picker
Affiliation:
Heinrich-Heine-University, Department of Anaesthesiology, Düsseldorf, Germany
L. A. Schwarte
Affiliation:
Heinrich-Heine-University, Department of Anaesthesiology, Düsseldorf, Germany
A. W. Schindler
Affiliation:
Heinrich-Heine-University, Department of Anaesthesiology, Düsseldorf, Germany
T. W. L. Scheeren
Affiliation:
Heinrich-Heine-University, Department of Anaesthesiology, Düsseldorf, Germany
Get access

Extract

Summary

Background and objective: Desflurane has been shown to increase sympathetic activity and heart rate (HR) in a concentration-dependent manner. Nevertheless, desflurane, like all other volatile anaesthetics, increased HR in parallel to vagal inhibition in a previous study. Therefore, our hypothesis is that desflurane elicits tachycardia by vagal inhibition rather than by activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

Methods: Six dogs were studied awake and during desflurane anaesthesia (1 and 2 MAC) alone, after pre-treatment with propranolol (2 mg kg−1 followed by 1 mg kg−1 h−1), or after pre-treatment with atropine (0.1 mg kg−1 followed by 0.05 mg kg−1 h−1). The effects on HR and HR variability were compared by an analysis of variance (P < 0.05). HR variability was analysed in the frequency domain as power in the high-(0.15–0.5 Hz, vagal activity) and low-frequency range (0.04–0.15 Hz, sympathetic and vagal activity).

Results: HR increased during 2 MAC of desflurane from about 60 (awake) to 118 ± 2 beats min−1 (mean ± SEM) in controls and to 106 ± 3 beats min−1 in dogs pre-treated with propranolol. In contrast, pre-treatment with atropine increased HR from 64 ± 2 to 147 ± 5 beats min−1 (awake) and HR decreased to 120 ± 5 beats min−1 after adding desflurane. High-frequency power correlated inversely with HR (r2 = 0.95/0.93) during desflurane alone and in the presence of β-adrenoceptor blockade, with no significant difference between regression lines. There was no correlation between these variables during atropine/desflurane.

Conclusions: The increase in HR elicited by desflurane mainly results from vagal inhibition and not from sympathetic activation.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
© 2003 European Society of Anaesthesiology

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Scher AM, Young AC. Reflex control of heart rate in the unanesthetized dog. Am J Physiol 1970; 218: 780789.Google Scholar
Picker O, Scheeren TWL, Arndt JO. Inhalation anaesthetics increase heart rate by decreasing cardiac vagal activity. Br J Anaesth 2001; 87: 748754.Google Scholar
Ebert TJ, Muzi M. Sympathetic hyperactivity during desflurane anesthesia in healthy volunteers. A comparison with isoflurane. Anesthesiology 1993; 79: 444453.Google Scholar
Ebert TJ, Muzi M, Lopatka CW. Neurocirculatory responses to sevoflurane in humans. A comparison to desflurane. Anesthesiology 1995; 83: 8895.Google Scholar
Ebert TJ, Perez F, Uhrich TD, Deshur MA. Desflurane-mediated sympathetic activation occurs in humans despite preventing hypotension and baroreceptor unloading. Anesthesiology 1998; 88: 12271232.Google Scholar
Pac-Soo CK, Ma D, Wang C, Chakrabarti MK, Whitwam JG. Specific actions of halothane, isoflurane, and desflurane on sympathetic activity and A delta and C somatosympathetic reflexes recorded in renal nerves in dogs. Anesthesiology 1999; 91: 470478.Google Scholar
Gueugniaud PY, Hanouz JL, Vivien B, Lecarpentier Y, Coriat P, Riou B. Effects of desflurane in rat myocardium: comparison with isoflurane and halothane. Anesthesiology 1997; 87: 599609.Google Scholar
Kersten J, Pagel PS, Tessmer JP, Roerig DL, Schmeling WT, Warltier DC. Dexmedetomidine alters the hemodynamic effects of desflurane and isoflurane in chronically instrumented dogs. Anesthesiology 1993; 79: 10221032.Google Scholar
Boban M, Stowe DF, Buljubasic N, Kampine JP, Bosnjak ZJ. Direct comparative effects of isoflurane and desflurane in isolated guinea pig hearts. Anesthesiology 1992; 76: 775780.Google Scholar
van Leersum E. Eine Methode zur Erleichterung der Blutdruckmessung bei Tieren. Pflügers Arch 1911; 142: 377395.Google Scholar
Picker O, Schindler A, Scheeren TWL. Accuracy and reproducibility of long-term implanted transit-time ultrasound flow probes in dogs. Intensive Care Med 2000; 26: 601607.Google Scholar
Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology. Heart rate variability: standards of measurement, physiological interpretation, and clinical use. Circulation 1996; 93: 10431065.
Ohsumi H, Sakamoto M, Yamazaki T, Okumura F. Effects of fentanyl on carotid sinus baroreflex control of circulation in rabbits. Am J Physiol 1989; 256: R625R631.Google Scholar
Hammel HT, Wyndham CA, Hardy JD. Heat production and heat loss in the dog at 8–36°C environmental temperature. Am J Physiol 1958; 194: 99108.Google Scholar
Doorley BM, Waters SJ, Terrell RC, Robinson JL. MAC of I-653 in beagle dogs and New Zealand white rabbits. Anesthesiology 1988; 69: 8991.Google Scholar
Smith I, White PF, Nathanson M, Gouldson R. Propofol. An update on its clinical use. Anesthesiology 1994; 81: 10051043.Google Scholar
AHFS Drug Information. Cardiovascular Drugs. Bethesda: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 1996: 12021209.
Takamura M, Parent R, Cernacek P, Lavallee M. Influence of dual ET(A)/ET(B)-receptor blockade on coronary responses to treadmill exercise in dogs. J Appl Physiol 2000; 89: 20412048.Google Scholar
Stein PK, Kleiger RE. Insights from the study of heart rate variability. Annu Rev Med 1999; 50: 249261.Google Scholar
Berntson GG, Bigger Jr JT, Eckberg DL, et al. Heart rate variability: origins, methods, and interpretive caveats. Psychophysiol 1997; 34: 623648.Google Scholar
Hirsch JA, Bishop B. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia in humans: how breathing pattern modulates heart rate. Am J Physiol 1981; 241: H620H629.Google Scholar
Brown TE, Beightol LA, Koh J, Eckberg DL. Important influence of respiration on human R–R interval power spectra is largely ignored. J Appl Physiol 1993; 75: 23102317.Google Scholar
Weiskopf RB, Eger EI, Daniel M. Fentanyl, esmolol, and clonidine blunt the transient cardiovascular stimulation induced by desflurane in humans. Anesthesiology 1994; 81: 13501355.Google Scholar
Vogt A, Thämer V. Vagal and sympathetic reflexes of left ventricular origin on the efferent activity of cardiac and renal nerves on anaesthetized cats. Basic Res Cardiol 1980; 75: 635645.Google Scholar
Skoog P, Mansson J, Thoren P. Changes in renal sympathetic outflow during hypotensive haemorrhage in rats. Acta Physiol Scand 1985; 125: 655660.Google Scholar
Ullman J. Influence of neurohumoral blockade on heart rate and blood pressure responses to haemorrhage in isoflurane anaesthetized rats. Acta Physiol Scand 2000; 169: 189194.Google Scholar
Saeki Y, Hasegawa Y, Shibamoto T, et al. The effects of sevoflurane, enflurane, and isoflurane on baroreceptor – sympathetic reflex in rabbits. Anesth Analg 1996; 82: 342348.Google Scholar
Muzi M, Ebert TJ. A comparison of baroreflex sensitivity during isoflurane and desflurane anesthesia in humans. Anesthesiology 1995; 82: 919925.Google Scholar