Prolonged exposure of mice to He-O2 at high pressure: effects on seizure and anesthesia liability

Multiday exposures of CD-1 mice to He-O2 atmospheres at pressures from 30 to 100 atm result in marked increases of threshold pressures for type I high-pressure neurological syndrome seizures. The effect develops with a half time (t1/2) of 12 h and is reversible (t1/2 = 7 h). The maximum enhancement of Pc is attained at a conditioning pressure of 80 ATA. Pressure conditioning also results in suppression of the compression rate effect on Pc. Furthermore, reserpine blocks the increase in Pc during prolonged pressure exposure. The entire effect thus appears to be an extension in time of the monoaminergic compression rate effect on Pc. Pressure conditioning does not modify anesthesia tolerance, unlike N2 habituation which affects anesthesia threshold pressure as well as Pc. The results are compared with the effects of habituation to inert-gas narcotics and the implications of the data for an understanding of inert-gas high-pressure antagonism in intact animals are discussed.