Effects in cats of atipamezole, flumazenil and 4-aminopyridine on stress-related neurohormonal and metabolic responses induced by medetomidine, midazolam and ketamine

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the antagonistic effects of a fixed dose of atipamezole (ATI), flumazenil (FLU) and 4-aminopyridine (4AP), both alone and in various combinations, on key stress-related neurohormonal and metabolic changes induced by medetomidine (MED), midazolam (MID) and ketamine (KET) in healthy cats. Seven cats were used consistently in eight investigation groups. Cats were administered a mixture of 0.05 mg/kg MED and 0.5 mg/kg MID followed 10 mins later by 10 mg/kg KET intramuscularly. Twenty minutes after KET injection, the cats were intravenously injected with either a physiological saline solution at 0.1 ml/kg (control) or one of the seven variations of experimental drugs, alone or in combination: ATI, FLU, 4AP, ATI + FLU, FLU + 4AP, ATI + 4AP and ATI + FLU + 4AP. Blood samples were collected 10 times during the 24 h test period. Plasma glucose, insulin, cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine and non-esterified fatty acid levels were measured. The administration of MED + MID + KET resulted in hyperglycaemia and decreases in epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol and non-esterified fatty acid levels. FLU or 4AP alone or FLU + 4AP did not effectively antagonise the effects induced by MED + MID + KET but enhanced the hyperglycaemia. ATI alone was effective in antagonising these effects. Compared with non-ATI regimens, combinations with ATI were more effective in antagonising the effects induced by MED + MID + KET; however, ATI + FLU + 4AP caused large increases in cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine concentrations. ATI, both alone and in combination, is effective in antagonising the neurohormonal and metabolic effects of MED + MID + KET in cats. However, ATI + FLU + 4AP is not suitable because of large stress-related hormonal responses.