Potencies of Convulsant Drugs in Mice Selectively Bred for Resistance and Susceptibility to Nitrous Oxide Anesthesia

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Abstract
To test the possibility that mice selectively bred for resistance (HI mice) and susceptibility (LO mice) to nitrous oxide anesthesia have general differences in CNS excitability, the effects of 6 consulvant agents in these 2 lines of mice were examined. Using high-pressure He, flurothyl, pentylenetetrazol, strychnine, (+)-bicuculline and picrotoxin, convulsions were induced in HI and LO mice. For all of the agents tested, HI mice were significantly more susceptible to convulsions than LO mice. LO mice convulsed at a 13-25% higher dose of convulsant agent than did HI mice. Nitrous oxide requirements (as measured by the partial pressure of nitrous oxide required to abolish the righting reflex), were 49-65% higher in HI mice. The higher nitrous oxide requirement in HI mice is probably due, at least in part, to a generalized increase in CNS excitability.