TY - JOUR T1 - THE EFFECTS OF ANESTHETIC AGENTS ON MUSCULAR CONTRACTION JF - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics JO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther SP - 358 LP - 365 VL - 78 IS - 4 AU - E. G. GROSS AU - STUART C. CULLEN Y1 - 1943/08/01 UR - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/78/4/358.abstract N2 - From the observations recorded in this investigation, it can only be said that (1) the contraction of the gastrocnemius muscle which is elicited by intraarterially injected acetylcholine or electrical stimulation of the nerve is less pronounced in (dogs anesthetized with ether, tribromethanol, and sodium pentothal than in dogs anesthetized with cyclopropane or ethylene, (2) prostigmine potentiates the contraction response in the dog anesthetized with cyclopropane and ether, and (3) the difference in contraction during anesthesia with the various agents is not altered by sectioning the nerve supply to the muscle. It seems likely, therefore, that the interference with the contraction is located in the humoral mechanism of transmission of nerve impulses, and that ether, tribromethanol, and sodium ethyl (l methyl-butyl) thiobarbiturate (Sodium Pentothal) can be said to have a curariform action. Of these three, ether causes the greatest interference; tribromethanol and sodium pentothal do so only in very high blood concentrations. The clinical difficulties encountered with the concomitant use of ether and curare are thus accounted for. ER -