[Relationships between course of anesthesia, depth of anesthesia and acetylcholine content of the brain after urethane and pentobarbital administration in the rat].

Urethane (1.25 g/kg) and pentobarbital (0.06 g/kg) 30 min after i.v. application increase the content of acetylcholine in telencephalic areas but not in the brain stem. These acetylcholine levels are normalized again 120 min p.i.; but urethane treated animals show an elevated acetylcholine content in the brain stem at this time. A different course of anesthesia by pentobarbital and urethane respectively correlated with this result: Only in the presence of urethane a persistent depression of spontaneous motility was seen, whereas the effectivity of both anesthetics on pinna and corneal reflexes and in respect of pentobarbital also on active movements occurrence declined in the end of the test period.