Evaluation of benzocaine-based anesthetic gel in anuran skins extracts: A case study using the frog Lithodytes lineatus (Anura: Leptodactylidae)

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 12; p. e0243654
• Main Authors: Barros, André de Lima, Lima, Albertina Pimentel, Fachin-Espinar, Maria Teresa, Nunez, Cecilia Veronica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 08.12.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Amphibians; Anesthetics - administration & dosage; Anesthetics - analysis; Animal experimentation; Animals; Anura; Benzocaine; Benzocaine - administration & dosage; Benzocaine - analysis; Bioassays; Biology and Life Sciences; Case reports; Chemical composition; Cluster analysis; Clustering; Collagen; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Frogs; Gold-striped frog; Lethal dose; Lithodytes lineatus; Magnetic resonance; Mass spectrometry; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Oral cavity; Physical Sciences; Physiological aspects; Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Research and Analysis Methods; Scientific imaging; Skin; Skin - chemistry; Solvents; Specimen Handling - methods; Tissue extracts; Tissue Extracts - analysis; Tissue Extracts - chemistry; Topical analgesics; Brazil
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243654

Extracts made from the skin of dead Lithodytes lineatus frog individuals with the application of the benzocaine-based anesthetic gel, introduced into the oral cavity, were analyzed by 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance to investigate whether the application of this product (oral) can make studies that use extracts from the skins of these animals unfeasible. For comparison, we used skins of another species of anuran following the same death protocol. No trace of the benzocaine substance was found in the 1H-NMR spectra of the skin extracts from any of the tested anuran species. Still, using the hierarchical clustering model, it was possible to observe the formation of well-defined groups between the skin extracts of anurans and the anesthetic used to kill these animals. Our results suggest that the lethal dose of benzocaine in gel used inside the mouth of frogs may have no influence on potential results regarding the chemical composition or even bioassays using extracts made from the skin of these animals killed under this protocol since there was no detection of this substance for the analyzed samples.