THE INFLUENCE OF CARBON TETRACIILORIDE ON THIOPENTAL SLEEPING TIME AND DISTRIBUTION IN THE RAT

¹ Division of Pharmacology, Bureau of Biological and Physical Sciences, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, D. C., and Department of Pharmacology, Albany Medical College, Albany, New York

Evidence was supplied to show that CCl₄ increased thiopental sleeping time in rats, and that with an increase in the dose of CCl₄ there was an increase in the duration of this effect.

The distribution of thiopental to various body tissues was studied in rats 24 hours after receiving a single oral dose of CCl₄ and compared to a control group which received only the barbiturate. The results indicated the distribution of thiopental in the CCl₄ treated rats was significantly different from the controls, at one or more time intervals after the barbiturate was administered, in the brain, plasma, and fat; other tissues (liver, kidney, and muscle) failed to show differences during this time.

Attempts were made to correlate, at least in part, the alteration in thiopental sleeping time in rats with changes seen in the distribution of the drug brought on by CCl₄.