Influence of anaesthetic drugs on amino acid incorporation in the rat pancreas

Abstract

Barbiturates, nitrous oxide and ethylurethane do not affect the rate of protein synthesis in the exocrine cells of the rat pancreas in vivo during the first 15 min of anaesthesia. Ethylether and trichloroethylene decrease the rate of incorporation of radioactive amino acid (l-leucine) into protein by more than 40 and 30 per cent respectively. They also inhibit the incorporation of radioactive amino acid into slices of pancreas in vitro, the inhibition increasing (up to 100 per cent) with increasing amount of anaesthetic in the gassing mixture. Therefore, the influence of these lipid solving anaesthetics on the cells in vivo can be seen as mainly a direct one, not mediated by the lower body temperature or hypoxaemia. The inhibition of the leucine incorporation is reversible with low concentrations of ether, as are present in the blood during inhalation anaesthesia. Since the inflow of radioactive leucine into the tissue is not inhibited by ether, a lower specific radioactivity of free leucine in the cells is not the main cause of the decrease in incorporation.