The short-acting anesthetic propofol produces biphasic effects-depression and withdrawal rebound overshoot-on some (but not all) limbic evoked potentials in the behaving rat.

Propofol, the relatively new, short-acting general anesthetic, markedly enhances the action of GABA at the GABAA receptor. To evaluate its effects on field potentials evoked in the dentate gyrus (DG) during the anesthetic and recovery periods, propofol was administered intraperitoneally to behaving rats bearing stimulating electrodes in the dorsal perforant path (DPP), where medial perforant path fibers predominate, and in the anterior piriform cortex (PC; i.e., olfactory cortex), and recording electrodes in the DG. Input from the PC reaches the DG via the lateral perforant path. Population slow waves (SWs) were evoked by paired-pulse stimulation of the PC at a 32 ms interstimulus interval (ISI) to produce paired-pulse facilitation in the awake animal. We had previously demonstrated that amplitude of SW2 (produced by the second stimulus) was greatly decreased by GABAergic drugs and increased by antiGABAergic convulsant agents. After administration of propofol, mean amplitude of SW2 decreased immediately and remained low for 30-60 min during propofol-induced sleep (as expected), then unexpectedly increased to about 1.5- to 2-fold above pretreatment levels at 2-4 h before gradually returning to pretreatment levels. In addition, the DPP was stimulated to produce either paired-pulse inhibition (20 ms ISI) or facilitation (32 ms ISI) of DG population spikes (PSs) in the awake animal. PS2 was much more inhibited during propofol-induced sleep, than during the pretreatment period, consistent with an expected marked increase in recurrent inhibition. An overshoot in PS2 amplitude was observed only occasionally during recovery, suggesting that withdrawal overshoot in amplitudes is more characteristic of PC-evoked DG SW2 potentials. The overshoot in SW2 amplitude during recovery may have been related to propofol's 'rapid on-rapid off' actions on the GABAA receptor, perhaps resulting in a phenomenon like the 'GABA withdrawal syndrome'. Such an effect, if true, may help explain the rare occurrence of seizures, especially during recovery, associated with its use clinically. Copyright 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.