Fig. 1.
(A) Schematic drawing of the closed-loop infusion system. (B) Schematic drawing of the protocol used for assessing the impact of 30-min infusions of sedatives–hypnotics and methoxycarbonyl etomidate's metabolites. A baseline preinfusion blood sample (baseline) was drawn from each rat before administering adrenocorticotropic hormone 1–24 (ACTH1–24) or intravenous sedative–hypnotic. The first dose of ACTH1–24 was given immediately before the start of the 30-min infusion (but after the bolus), and the INF blood sample was drawn at the end of the infusion. Additional doses of ACTH1–24 (but no hypnotic) were administered and blood was drawn (recovery 1 and recovery 2 blood samples) every 30 min for 1 h after the infusion was complete.