Elsevier

Pharmacological Research

Volume 42, Issue 4, October 2000, Pages 355-359
Pharmacological Research

Regular Article
Experimental urethane anaesthesia prevents digoxin intoxication: electrocardiographic and histological study in rabbit

https://doi.org/10.1006/phrs.2000.0698Get rights and content

Abstract

An electrocardiographic and histological study was performed in rabbit to detect the effects of urethane (ethyl carbamate) intraperitoneal (i.p.) anaesthesia in digoxin intoxication, since it has been previously shown that this anaesthetic and digitalis glycosides exert specific peripheral effects on the cardiovascular system involving central structures of the autonomic nervous system. We observed that i.p. urethane anaesthesia prevented the onset of the electrocardiographic signs of digitalis intoxication, as well as inhibiting the appearance of histological myocardial alterations after treatment with toxic digoxin doses. On the other hand, lethal arrhythmias and severe myocardial damage were observed in animals that had not undergone preliminary urethane anaesthesia. These results indicate that the effect exerted by urethane in preventing the toxic action of digoxin is probably due to a decrease of sympathetic activity in anaesthetized animals by centrally mediated sympathetic inhibition.

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Corresponding author. Dipartimento di Morfologia Umana Normale, Via Manzoni 16, 34138 Trieste (Italia). Email: [email protected]

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