Assessment of sensitivity to the anesthesia in a diabetic rat model

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Diabetes mellitus and glucose regulation are important in decid-ing on surgical intervention in pre-surgical as-sessments. In our study, we aimed to investigate the correlations between the induction time of anesthesia, glucose level, and weight in a dia-betic rat model.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Weight -matched adult male Wistar rats were grouped as control (n=8) and diabetic (n=8). In the latter group, diabetes was induced with a single intra-peritoneal injection of 50 mg/kg streptozotosin. 72 hours after the injection, animals possessing a blood glucose concentration above 300 mg/ kg were considered diabetic. The weights and blood glucose levels were observed for 7 days. In the end, 80 mg/kg ketamine and 12 mg/kg xylazine were administered to both groups, and the induction time of anesthesia was recorded. The success of anesthesia was confirmed with toe pinching by using a clamp. The Student's L- and Pearson's correlation tests were used for statistical analyses.RESULTS: The induction time of anesthesia was significantly reduced in the diabetic group com-pared to the controls (p<0.01). Diabetic animals weighed less than the control group (p<0.01). The correlation analysis in the diabetic group showed that the weight and blood glucose level of animals did not influence the induction time of anesthesia (respectively, p=0.80, r: 0.150; p=0.68, r:-0.300). A negative correlation between blood glucose concentration and weight was found in diabetics (p<0.05, r:-0.828).CONCLUSIONS: The dosage of anesthetic agents is important in the effectiveness of an-esthesia, and surgical complications. Since our results indicate the susceptibility of diabetics to anesthesia, we suggest that the dose of anes-thetics should be finely adjusted considering the presence of diabetes.