Flurothyl

Flurothyl
Systematic (IUPAC) name
2,2-Oxybis(1,1,1-trifluoroethane)
or
Bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) ether
Identifiers
CAS Number 333-36-8 YesY
ATC code none
PubChem CID 9528
DrugBank DB08969 N
ChemSpider 9155 N
UNII 9Z467FG2YK YesY
Synonyms Hexafluorodiethyl ether
Chemical data
Formula C4H4F6O
Molar mass 182.064
Physical data
Density 1.404 g/cm3 g/cm3
Boiling point 62 to 63 °C (144 to 145 °F)
 NYesY (what is this?)  (verify)

Flurothyl (Indoklon) is a volatile liquid drug from the halogenated ether family, related to inhaled anaesthetic agents such as diethyl ether, but having the opposite effects, acting as a stimulant and convulsant.[1] A clear and stable liquid, it has a mild ethereal odor whose vapors are non-flammable. It is excreted from the body by the lungs in an unchanged state.[2][3][4]

Several compounds related to the halogenated ether anesthetics have similar convulsant effects rather than producing sedation, and this has been helpful in studying the mechanism of action of these drugs.[5][6][7]

The main current use of flurothyl is in scientific research for inducing seizures in laboratory animals.[8]

Research into psychiatric treatment

Flurothyl was at one time studied in psychiatric medicine for shock therapy, in a similar manner to other convulsant drugs such as pentetrazol, as an alternative to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).[9][10] This use has now been discontinued.

In 1953, the Maryland pharmacologist J. C. Krantz experimented with flurothyl to induce seizures in psychiatric patients as an alternative to ECT. Flurothyl was injected into a plastic container in a tight fitting face mask. The patient inhaled a mixture of vapor and air, and expired air was forced into a charcoal adsorbent via a one-way valve. Oxygen was administered simultaneously. Flurothyl inhalations were first conducted without sedation or muscle paralysis.[11][12] Premedication with pentothal and succinylcholine chloride, as is customary in ECT, was tested and found safe.[13]

Four random assignment treatment studies found the clinical results for flurothyl to be as effective as those of ECT.[14][15][16][17] Flurothyl treatments were administered on the same schedules as ECT. In some patients who had not responded to ECT, flurothyl treatment produced improvement.[18]

The flurothyl treated patients showed less amnesia and confusion during the course of treatment with better patient acceptance. A detailed study comparing flurothyl and ECT in patients with severe endogenous depression, reported the degree of anterograde amnesia to be similar, but the degree of retrograde amnesia was much lower after flurothyl.[17] Psychological tests showed memory impairments at the fourth week of treatment, and memory improvement two weeks after the last treatment, with no measurable differences between the treatments.

Equal degrees of EEG slow wave increases were recorded in flurothyl and electrical induced seizures.[19] Oximetric and ECG studies showed comparable heart rate increases with occasional rhythmic irregularities.[15]

Flurothyl induced seizures were deemed clinically equal to electrical seizures with lesser effects on cognition and memory. An editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1966 encouraged its use.[20]

An injectable form of flurothyl was formulated.[21] The clinical results were the same as with inhaled flurothyl.[22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rose, L; Watson, A (1967). "Flurothyl (Indoklon). Experience with an inhalational convulsant agent". Anaesthesia 22 (3): 425–34. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2044.1967.tb02765.x. PMID 4951597.
  2. ↑ Karliner, W, Padula, L. Further clinical studies of hexafluorodiethyl ether convulsive treatments. J. Neuropsychiatry 1962; 3:159-162
  3. ↑ Speers, L, Neeley, A. H. The synthesis, chemical and physical properties of Indoklon. J. Neuropsychiatry 1963; 4:153-156
  4. ↑ Krantz, J. C. Jr., Loecher, C. K. Anesthesia LXX: effect of inert fluorinated agents on fluroxene and flurothyl. Anesthesia and Analgesia, 46(3):271-274, 1967
  5. ↑ Koblin DD, Chortkoff BS, Laster MJ, Eger EI, Halsey MJ, Ionescu P (December 1994). "Polyhalogenated and perfluorinated compounds that disobey the Meyer-Overton hypothesis". Anesthesia and Analgesia 79 (6): 1043–8. doi:10.1213/00000539-199412000-00004. PMID 7978424.
  6. ↑ Koblin DD, Laster MJ, Ionescu P, Gong D, Eger EI, Halsey MJ, Hudlicky T (May 1999). "Polyhalogenated methyl ethyl ethers: solubilities and anesthetic properties". Anesthesia and Analgesia 88 (5): 1161–7. doi:10.1213/00000539-199905000-00036. PMID 10320188.
  7. ↑ Eger EI, Halsey MJ, Harris RA, Koblin DD, Pohorille A, Sewell JC, Sonner JM, Trudell JR (June 1999). "Hypothesis: volatile anesthetics produce immobility by acting on two sites approximately five carbon atoms apart". Anesthesia and Analgesia 88 (6): 1395–400. doi:10.1213/00000539-199906000-00036. PMID 10357351.
  8. ↑ Hashimoto, Y; Araki, H; Suemaru, K; Gomita, Y (2006). "Effects of drugs acting on the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor complex on flurothyl-induced seizures in Mongolian gerbils". European Journal of Pharmacology 536 (3): 241–7. doi:10.1016/j.ejphar.2006.02.036. PMID 16581068.
  9. ↑ "A convulsant agent for psychiatric use. Flurothyl (Indoklon)". JAMA: the Journal of the American Medical Association 196 (1): 29–30. 1966. doi:10.1001/jama.196.1.29. PMID 4379572.
  10. ↑ Small, JG; Small, IF; Sharpley, P; Moore, DF (1968). "A double-blind comparative evaluation of flurothyl and ECT". Archives of General Psychiatry 19 (1): 79–86. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1968.01740070081012. PMID 5658383.
  11. ↑ Esquibel, A., Krantz, J. C. Jr., Truitt, et al. Hexafluorodiethyl ether (Indoklon) – Its use as a convulsant in psychiatric treatment. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 1958: 126:530-534
  12. ↑ Krantz, J. C. Jr., Esquibel, A., Truitt, A. et al. Hexafluorodiethyl ether (Indoklon) – an inhalant convulsant: Its use in psychiatric treatment. JAMA 1958: 166:1555-1556
  13. ↑ Karliner, W. Padula, L. Indoklon combined with Pentothal and Anectine. Am. J.Psychiatry, 1959; 115:1041-1042
  14. ↑ Fink, M., Kahn, R. L., Karp, E., et al. Inhalant-induced convulsions: Significance for the theory of the convulsive therapy process. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 1961; 4:259-266
  15. 1 2 Kurland, A. A., Hanlon, T. E., Esquibel, A. J., et al. A comparative study of hexafluorodiethyl ether (Indoklon) and electroconvulsive therapy. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 1959; 129:95-98
  16. ↑ Small, J. G., Small, I. F., Sharply, P., and Moore, D. F. A double-blind comparative evaluation of flurothyl and ECT. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry, 1968; 19:79-86
  17. 1 2 Laurell, B. (Ed.): Flurothyl convulsive therapy. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. [Suppl.], 213:1-79, 1970
  18. ↑ Karliner, W. and Padula, L. The use of hexafluorodiethyl ether in psychiatric treatment. J. Neuropsychiatry 1960; 2:67-70, PMID 13751512
  19. ↑ Fink M. Convulsive Therapy: Theory and Practice. New York: Raven Press, 1979
  20. ↑ A convulsant agent for psychiatric use. Flurothyl (Indoklon). JAMA: the Journal of the American Medical Association 196 (1): 29–30. 1966. doi:10.1001/jama.196.1.29 PMID 4379572.
  21. ↑ Krantz, J. C. Jr., Manchey, L. L., Truitt, E. B., et al. The availability of hexafluorodiethyl ether by intravenous injection as a convulsant in psychiatric treatment. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis.1959; 128:92-94
  22. ↑ Karliner, W. Clinical experience with intravenous Indoklon: A new convulsant drug. J. Neuropsychiatry 1963; 4:184-189


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