The effect of anaesthetics on pulmonary ultrastructure

Rats and mice were given a variety of anaesthetics including ether, pentobarbitone and urethane and some were killed by cervical dislocation. Although no ultrastructural changes were seen in the lungs of those given urethane and pentobarbitone, ether inhalation and cervical dislocation produced blebbing in capillary endothelial and Type I epithelial cells. It follows that in experiments aimed at inducing ultrastructural changes in the lung, it is important to use anaesthetics such as urethane or pentobarbitone.