Anesthesia and the Meyer-Overton Rule I. Potencies and Perturbations

The Meyer-Overton rule is used extensively in the analysis of general anesthesia, but there is no satisfactory explanation of its origins. In this article we explore its physical content and show that it is not possible to explain this rule by using anesthetic potencies alone: we must consider also the perturbations at anesthetic sites. We then show that, under certain conditions, the Meyer-Overton rule can be used as a "perturbation gauge." The findings contradict the common belief that the rule provides little information about interactions of anesthetic molecules with the membrane constituents of the anesthetic site.