Figure 3.

Effect of euthanasia on in vivo microdialysate endocannabinoid levels. Microdialysis samples were collected from the nucleus accumbens of naïve Wistar rats (n= 6) at 10 min intervals starting 90 min prior to euthanasia by CO₂ narcosis (induced at time zero) until 60 min post-mortem. (A) Dialysate 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) levels were stable over the 90 min pre-euthanasia baseline period (repeated measures anova, F_5,45= 0.578, not significant), but were significantly increased during the 60 min post-mortem sampling period (F_5,30= 32.635, P < 0.0001). (B) AEA (anandamide, N-arachidonoyl-ethanolamine) levels measured in these same samples were also stable during the baseline period (F_5,45= 1.824, not significant) and were not significantly altered during the 60 min post-mortem period (F_5,30= 1.367, not significant). The double asterisks denote P < 0.01 versus pre-euthanasia baseline at individual post-mortem time points as determined by Fisher's post hoc comparisons following anova. See text for additional details.