Influence of Reserpine on Cardiovascular and Sympatho-Adrenal Responses to Ether Anesthesia in the Dog

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Abstract
Changes in several cardiovascular parameters were measured during anesthesia with increasing concentrations of ether in control and reserpine pre-treated animals. Ventricular contractile force, mean aortic pressure, total aortic flow and stroke volume in both groups of animals were progressively depressed as the concentration of ether was increased. The following differences were noted between the responses obtained in the control and reserpine-treated animals The rate of depression of mean aortic pressure and ventricular contractile force, as indicated by the slopes of regression lines, was similar in both groups of animals. However, the absolute values both before and during anesthesia, as indicated by the elevation of the lines, were lower in the reserpine-treated animals. Regression lines depicting changes in total aortic flow were almost identical in the 2 groups of animals both in slope and elevation, indicating similar aortic flows both before and during anesthesia. Stroke volume was higher in the reserpine-treated animals during light anesthesia, but this difference disappeared during deep levels due to a greater rate of depression. Heart rate in the control animals was significantly increased during light anesthesia, but as the depth was increased the rate returned to near preanesthetic levels. In the reserpine-treated animals, heart rate increased significantly during both light and deep anesthesia. However, in absolute rate in the re-serpine-treated animals was significantly less than in the control animals except during deep levels of anesthesia. In general, plasma levels of catecholamines were significantly elevated during ether anesthesia in the control animals; whereas, in the reserpine-treated animals, the only elevation observed was that of epinephrine during light anesthesia. These results indicate that reserpine pretreatment does not markedly alter the cardiovascular responses of animals to ether anesthesia even though some sympathetic factors are significantly depressed.