Effect of Anesthetic or Analgesic Drugs on Lipogenic and Lipolytic Adipose Tissue Activities 1

Abstract

Abstract

The effects of several anesthetic or analgesic agents (halothane, Na thiopental, ketamine, nitrous oxide, xylazine, and procaine) administered in vivo, on swine adipose tissue metabolism were measured. Adipose tissue samples were collected from the subcutaneous depot before and after administration of the anesthetic or analgesic agent. The rate of oxidation of glucose to CO₂ and the lipogenic rate, or the basal and stimulated lipolytic rates, were measured on tissue slices incubated in vitro. There were no effects on the oxidation of glucose to CO₂ or the incorporation into lipids except by procaine. Procaine depressed (P ≤ 0.05) the lipogenic rate (12%) and tended (P ≤ 0.1) to depress the oxidative rate (9%). The only observable effect on the lipolytic rates was a tendency (P ≤ 0.1) for ketamine to increase the stimulated lipolytic rate. The minimal effects on adipose tissue metabolism reported herein were obtained with short times of compound administration. Several agents (nitrous oxide, procaine, and xylazine) are not recommended because of poor analgesia.