Diet and the Duration of Thiopental Hypnosis in Rabbits

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Abstract
The effect of 2 injns.,rhr. apart, of 25 mg./kg. thiopental was studied in rabbits on diets of rabbit chow, oats and alfalfa and oats only. The duration of hypnosis after the 2nd intraven. injn. in animals fed chow or oats and alfalfa was 50-60% longer than the hypnotic time after the 1st injn. These animals when fed oats and water for 1 mo. showed an increase of 65% in the sleeping time after the 1st injn. and 250% increase in hypnosis after the 2nd. A marked reduction in hypnotic time occurred when these animals were returned to a diet of chow for 2 wks. An oats diet was accompanied by excretion of urine pH 6 as compared to pH 8 or more on other diets. Addition of NaHCO3 to the oats diet, sufficient to produce an alkaline urine, resulted in a decrease in the hypnotic period toward that of the controls.