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Propofol directly depresses lumbar dorsal horn neuronal responses to noxious stimulation in goats

Joseph F. Antognini , MD^*, Xiao Wei Wang, MD^*, Marla Piercy, BA^* and Earl Carstens, PhD

^* From the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management and
Section of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, California USA.

Address correspondence to: Joseph F. Antognini MD, TB-170, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616 USA. Fax: 530-752-7807; E-mail: jfantognini{at}ucdavis.edu

Purpose: We tested the hypothesis that propofol, acting in the brain, would either enhance, or have no effect, on lumbar dorsal horn neuronal responses to a noxious mechanical stimulus applied to the hindlimb. We recorded the response of lumbar dorsal horn neurons during differential delivery of propofol to the brain and torso of goats.

Methods: Goats were anesthetized with isoflurane and neck dissections performed which permitted cranial bypass. A laminectomy was made to allow microelectrode recording of lumbar dorsal horn neuronal activity. Isoflurane was maintained at 0.8 ± 0.1% to both head and torso throughout the study. During cranial bypass propofol was separately administered to the torso (1 mg•kg^–1, n=7; 3.75 mg•kg^–1, n=8) or cranial (0.04 mg•kg^–1, n=7; 0.14 mg•kg^–1, n=8) circulations.

Results: Propofol administered to the torso depressed dorsal horn neuronal responses to noxious stimulation: low dose: 500 ± 243 to 174 ± 240 impulses•min^-1 at one minute post-injection, P < 0.001; high dose: 478 ± 204 to 91 ± 138 impulses•min^-1 at one minute post-injection, P < 0.05). Propofol administered to the cranial circulation had no effect: low dose: 315 ± 150 to 410 ± 272 impulses•min^-1, P > 0.05; high dose: 462 ± 261 to 371 ± 196 impulses•min^-1, P > 0.05.

Conclusions: These data indicate that propofol has a direct depressant effect on dorsal horn neuronal responses to noxious stimulation, with little or no indirect supraspinal effect.

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