• G Orliaguet, B Vivien, O Langeron, B Bouhemad, P Coriat, and B Riou.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire Necker-Enfants Malades, Assistance Publique-Hĵpitaux de Paris, France. gorlia@club-internet.fr
• Anesthesiology. 2001 Sep 1;95(3):734-9.

BackgroundAlthough neonatal rats have become widely used as experimental laboratory animals, minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) values of volatile anesthetics in rats during postnatal maturation remain unknown.MethodsWe determined MAC values of volatile anesthetics in spontaneously breathing neonatal (2-, 9-, and 30-day-old) and adult Wistar rats exposed to increasing (in 0.1-0.2% steps) concentrations of halothane, isoflurane, or sevoflurane (n = 12-20 in each group), using the tail-clamp technique. MAC and its 95% confidence intervals were calculated using logistic regression and corrected for body temperature (37 degrees C).ResultsIn adult rats, inspired MAC values corrected at 37 degrees C were as follows: halothane, 0.88% (confidence interval, 0.82-0.93%); isoflurane, 1.12% (1.07-1.18%); and sevoflurane, 1.97% (1.84-2.10%). In 30-day-old rats, the values were as follows: halothane, 1.14% (1.07-1.20%); isoflurane, 1.67% (1.58-1.76%); and sevoflurane, 2.95% (2.75-3.15%). In 9-day-old rats, inspired MAC values were as follows: halothane, 1.68% (1.58-1.78%); isoflurane, 2.34% (2.21-2.47%); and sevoflurane, 3.74% (3.64-3.86%). In 2-day-old rats, inspired MAC values were as follows: halothane, 1.54% (1.44-1.64%); isoflurane, 1.86% (1.72-2.01%); and sevoflurane, 3.28% (3.09-3.47%).ConclusionAs postnatal age increases, MAC value significantly increases, reaching the greatest value in 9-day-old rats, and decreases thereafter, and at 30 days is still greater than the adult MAC value.

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