The response to inhaled anesthetics was evaluated by determining the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of anesthetic required to suppress movement in response to a tail pinch in 50% of the mouse population. Unc-79 worms are hypersensitive to the immobilizing effects of a various inhaled anesthetics, particularly halothane [4], [5]. We did not observe any alteration of MAC in response to halothane, cyclopropane, or sevoflurane in Lightweight heterozygotes. However, there was a significant resistance to isoflurane-induced anesthesia relative to wild-type littermates (P<0.0001, Student's t-test) (Figure 6A). There was no difference in response to either halothane or isoflurane in Control/+ mice when compared to their wild-type littermates (Figure 6B).
