Summary
An isolated perfused rat brain preparation was used to compare the effects of chloral hydrate and its metabolite trichloroethanol on the EEG. The concentrations of chloral hydrate and trichloroethanol in the perfusion medium ranged from 1.5 to 5.5 mM. 5, 10, 15, and 30 min after the beginning of the perfusions EEG-recordings were taken. The recordings were evaluated both by a descriptive method and by a simple quantitative appraoch, counting the waves with an amplitude greater than 50 microvolts and averaging this value for a period of 1 sec. The following results were obtained: Both drugs exhibited CNS depressant activity. Between 5 and 10 min of perfusion the effect of trichloroethanol was more pronounced, after 15 min of perfusion no difference in the effects of trichloroethanol and chloral hydrate could be detected. The changes in the EEG caused by trichloroethanol seemed to be completed after 5 min of perfusion whereas EEGs from the chloral hydrate perfusions gradually changed, becoming similar to the EEGs from trichloroethanol perfusions after 15 min. It may be suggested that trichloroethanol is more active than chloral hydrate even if only during the first 10 min of perfusion greater effects of trichloroethanol on the EEG were detectable.
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Grüner, J., Krieglstein, J. & Rieger, H. Comparison of the effects of chloral hydrate and trichloroethanol on the EEG of the isolated perfused rat brain. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 277, 333–348 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00500994
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00500994