Anesthetic Effects of a Mixture of Medetomidine,Midazolam and Butorphanol in
Two Strains of Mice |
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Authors: | Yumiko Kirihara Mayumi Takechi Kaoru Kurosaki Yuta Kobayashi Tsutomu Kurosawa |
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Institution: | 1)Department of Experimental Animals, Center for Integrated Research in Science, Shimane University, 89–1 Enya-cho, Izumo, Shimane 693-8501, Japan;2)Department of Fundamental Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Shimane University, 89–1 Enya-cho, Izumo, Shimane 693-8501, Japan;3)Department of Laboratory Animal Medicine, Osaka University, Medical School, 2–2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan |
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Abstract: | The combination of ketamine and xylazine is a widely used anesthetic for laboratory
animals. However, due to an abuse problem in Japan, ketamine has been specified as a
narcotic since 2007. Instead of using ketamine, Kawai et al. reported an
injectable formula with an equivalent effect to the mixture of ketamine and xylazine
11]. The mixture of 0.3 mg/kg body weight (b.w.)
medetomidine (Med.), 4.0 mg/kg b.w. midazoram (Mid.), and 5.0 mg/kg b.w. butorphanol
(But.) produced an anesthetic duration of around 40 min in outbred ICR mice. However, the
anesthetic effect of the mixture for inbred mice strains remains unknown. Therefore, we
examined anesthetic effects of the mixture of Med., Mid., and But. in the BALB/c and
C57BL/6J strains. After intraperitoneal injection into mice, right front paw, left hind
paw, and tail pinch reflexes as well as corneal and righting reflexes were observed. Every
5 min, we scored each reflex category as 0 for reaction or 1 for no reaction. As long as
the total score was at least 4 out of 5, we considered the mixture as putting a mouse in a
surgical anesthetic state. The mixture produced an anesthetic duration of more than 45 min
in both strains of mice. These results indicate that the mixture of Med., Mid., and But.
can be a useful and effective anesthesia for the BALB/c and C57BL/6J strains of inbred
mice as well as outbred ICR mice. |
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Keywords: | anesthetic butorphanol inbred mice medetomidine midazolam |
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