Sevoflurane and isoflurane monoanesthesia abolished the phrenic long-term facilitation in rats.

Phrenic long-term facilitation (pLTF) is a form of respiratory plasticity, manifested by prolonged increase in peak amplitude of phrenic nerve activity (PNA) after episodes of acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH). The aim was to investigate the effects of sevoflurane and isoflurane monoanesthesia at equipotent anesthetic doses on the expression of amplitude pLTF. Experiments were performed on Sprague-Dawley anesthetized, vagotomized, and mechanically ventilated rats.