Recent neurochemical basis of inert gas narcosis and pressure effects.

Full Abstract

Compressed air or a nitrogen-oxygen mixture produces from 0.3 MPa nitrogen narcosis. The traditional view was that anaesthesia or narcosis occurs when the volume of a hydrophobic site is caused to expand beyond a critical amount by the absorption of molecules of a narcotic gas. The observation of the pressure reversal effect on general anaesthesia has for a long time supported the lipid theory. However, recently, protein theories are in increasing consideration since results have been interpreted as evidence for a direct anaesthetic-protein interaction. The question is to know whether inert gases act by binding processes on proteins of neurotransmitter receptors. Compression with breathing mixtures where nitrogen is replaced by helium which has a low narcotic potency induces from 1 MPa, the high pressure nervous syndrome which is related to neurochemical disturbances including changes of the amino-acid and monoamine neurotransmissions. The use of narcotic gas (nitrogen or hydrogen) added to a helium-oxygen mixture, reduced some symptoms of the HPNS but also had some effects due to an additional effect of the narcotic potency of the gas. The researches performed at the level of basal ganglia of the rat brain and particularly the nigro-striatal pathway involved in the control of the motor, locomotor and cognitive functions, disrupted by narcosis or pressure, have indicated that GABAergic neurotransmission is implicated via GABAa receptors.

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Author information

Author/s: Rostain, J C (JC); Balon, N (N);

Affiliation: Université de la Méditerranée et IMNSSA, EA 3280, Physiopathologie et Action Thérapeutique des Gaz Sous Pression, Faculté de Mèdecine Nord, IFR J. Roche, 13916 Marseille 20, France.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Undersea & hyperbaric medicine : journal of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, Inc (Undersea Hyperb Med), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2006 May-Jun; vol 33 (issue 3) : pp 197-204

Dates: Created 2006/07/27; Completed 2006/08/08;

PMID: 16869533, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Anesthetics - metabolism
Animals
Atmospheric Pressure
Dopamine - metabolism
Helium - adverse effects; metabolism
High Pressure Neurological Syndrome - etiology; metabolism
Humans

Hydrogen - adverse effects; metabolism
Inert Gas Narcosis - etiology; metabolism
Membrane Lipids - metabolism
Pressure
Receptors, GABA - metabolism
Synaptic Transmission - physiology
gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - metabolism

Associated Chemicals: Anesthetics (0) ; Membrane Lipids (0) ; Receptors, GABA (0) ; Hydrogen (1333-74-0) ; Dopamine (51-61-6) ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (56-12-2) ; Helium (7440-59-7)

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