Pentobarbital
Pronunciation:pen-toh-BAR-bi-tal
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:76-74-4
Formal Names:Cafergot, Nembutal, Pentobarbitone, Phenobarbitone
Informal Names:Nebbies, Nembies, Nemmies, Nimbies, Yellow Bullets, Yellow
Dolls, Yellow Jackets, Yellows
Type:Depressant (barbiturate class).Seepage 20
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule II (oral and parentral, DEA no. 2270), Schedule
III for suppositories (DEA no. 2271)
USA Availability:Prescription
Pregnancy Category:D
Uses.This short-acting substance has sedative qualities but is considered
ineffective in treating nervous apprehension. Because of the drug’s sleep-
inducing characteristics, it is used as a preliminary to administering anesthesia
and as a short-term treatment for insomnia. Pentobarbital has been observed
to lower blood pressure, body temperature, and muscle tone. The compound
can be used as an emergency anticonvulsant when a person has seizures, and
has been used to treatalcoholaddicts undergoing withdrawal. Pentobarbital
has been found effective in reducing pressure that fluid creates in the brain
after severe head injury. Pentobarbital reduces a type of nerve cell death called
neuronal apoptosis, and this reduction may help prevent stroke. Animal stud-
ies indicate that pentobarbital can help protect brain tissue against radiation,
which might have practical application during treatment of brain tumors. Vet-
erinarians use the substance for euthanasia: An unusual demonstration of the
drug’s strength occurred when a lion was poisoned by eating meat from a
horse that had been killed with pentobarbital.
Drawbacks.Although the drug is a sedative, it can cause hyperactivity in
children. Sudden stoppage of combined pentobarbital and benzodiazepine
therapy in an infant caused temporary chorea (involuntary jerking). A feline
experiment showed that tremors reminiscent of Parkinson’s disease can occur
when pentobarbital is administered with chlorpromazine (also called Thora-
zine, often used to treat psychotic behavior). Persons with porphyria, a body
chemistry affliction that can provoke violence, are supposed to avoid pento-
barbital. Examination of epileptic children receiving pentobarbital shows ele-
vated readings for total cholesterol, though levels of high-density lipoprotein