Publication at Third Faculty of Medicine |
2000
Abstract
Voltammetric measurements are used to study the transfer of protonated forms of local anesthetics (procaine, tetracaine, prilocaine, bupivacaine, lidocaine, dibucaine) across a supported o-nitrophenyl octyl ether (o-NPOE) membrane. Ion diffusion coefficients and ion transfer potentials were obtained which are comparable with those inferred from measurements at a water-o-NPOE interface.
It is shown that the pharmacological potency of local anesthetics correlates with standard ion transfer potentials of their protonated forms. It is proposed that the drug propagation involves the transfer of the ionic rather than uncharged anesthetic across the cell membrane.