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Effects of levobupivacaine on isolated rat tracheal smooth muscle

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Abstract

Levobupivacaine has been developed as a safer alternative to bupivacaine because of its reduced systemic toxicity. However, the effect of directly delivering levobupivacaine into tracheal smooth muscle has not been adequately explored. We performed this study to determine the in vitro effects of levobupivacaine on isolated rat tracheal smooth muscle. A portion of rat trachea 5 mm in length was mounted in 30 ml of Krebs solution in a muscle bath at 37 °C. The following effects of levobupivacaine were assessed: (1) the effect on tracheal smooth muscle resting tension (n = 6), (2) the effect on contraction caused by 10−6 M methacholine (n = 6) and (3) the effect on electrically induced tracheal smooth muscle contractions (n = 6). Levobupivacaine caused dose-dependent relaxation in the trachealis muscle precontracted with 10−6 M methacholine. Contraction inhibition was statistically significant when 10−5 and 10−4 M levobupivacaine were applied, compared with the contraction inhibition that occurred in the control groups (p < 0.01). A high dose of levobupivacaine also decreased the spike contraction induced by electrical field stimulation. This study indicated that high concentrations of levobupivacaine might antagonize the cholinergic receptors and inhibit parasympathetic function of the trachea.

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Acknowledgments

This work was not supported by any research grants or funding.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Anesthesiology, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

      Hung-Chi Chang, Shin-Yan Chen, Yu-Feng Huang, Feng-Lin Liu & Yih-Giun Cherng

    2. Graduate Institute of Translational and Interdisciplinary Medicine, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

      Hung-Chi Chang

    3. Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

      Yih-Giun Cherng

    4. Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

      Hsing-Won Wang

    5. Department of Otolaryngology, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, No. 291, Jhongjheng Rd., Jhonghe, Taipei, 23561, Taiwan

      Hsing-Won Wang

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    1. Hung-Chi Chang
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    2. Shin-Yan Chen
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    3. Yu-Feng Huang
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    Correspondence to Hsing-Won Wang.

    Additional information

    Y.-G. Cherng and H.-W. Wang contributed equally to this work.

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    Chang, HC., Chen, SY., Huang, YF. et al. Effects of levobupivacaine on isolated rat tracheal smooth muscle. J Anesth 29, 809–812 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00540-015-2026-8

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00540-015-2026-8

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