The membrane volume occupied by anesthetic molecules: a reinterpretation of the erythrocyte expansion data.

Seeman and coworkers (Seeman, P. (1972) Pharmacol. Rev. 24, 583--655) calculated that anesthetic agents expand membrane volume ten times more than the van der Waals volume of the agent alone. Their calculation was based on the assumption that the thickness of the erythrocyte membrane expands at the same rate as the surface area. However, recent data on bilayer membranes demonstrate that an expansion of membrane surface area is accompanied by a decrease in membrane thickness. A reinterpretation of their erythrocyte area expansion data using an appropriate contraction of membrane thickness suggests the volume in a membrane occupied by anesthetic molecules is approximately equal to their van der Waals volume.