• M Weiss, R Buhl, N Mirow, A Birkhahn, M Schneider, and P Wernet.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf, Germany.
• J Crit Care. 1994 Jun 1; 9 (2): 83-9.

PurposeThe dose-response relationship of commercially available preparations of methohexital, pentobarbital, phenobarbital, and thiopental and their respective drug-free solutions on granulocyte function was investigated to evaluate whether suppression of neutrophil chemiluminescence is mediated by the barbiturates themselves or by their drug-free solutions. Furthermore, it was assessed whether suppression of chemiluminescence is due to an interaction mainly with neutrophils or to free radical scavenging.MethodsThe dose-response effects of the four barbiturates on granulocyte function were tested by zymosan-induced neutrophil chemiluminescence and, in addition, in a cell-free chemiluminescence system.ResultsMethohexital and pentobarbital did not influence zymosan-induced neutrophil chemiluminescence, whereas phenobarbital and thiopental decreased neutrophil chemiluminescence in a dose-dependent fashion. Nonphysiological osmolality (531 mosmol/kg) caused this impaired neutrophil chemiluminescence at the greatest concentration of phenobarbital. Thiopental solely suppressed neutrophil chemiluminescence drug specifically. Because thiopental also reduced chemiluminescence generated in a cell-free system, free radical scavenging might contribute to the impaired neutrophil chemiluminescence observed with thiopental.ConclusionsWith the exception of thiopental, barbiturates do not impair oxygen radical production during phagocytosis of neutrophils.

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