Minimum alveolar concentration or MAC is the concentration, often expressed as a percentage by volume, of a vapour in the alveoli of the

lung The lungs are the primary Organ (biology), organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the Vertebral column, backbone on either side of the heart. Their ...

s that is needed to prevent movement (motor response) in 50% of subjects in response to surgical (pain) stimulus. MAC is used to compare the strengths, or potency, of anaesthetic vapours. The concept of MAC was first introduced in 1965. MAC actually is a ''median'' value, not a minimum as term implies. The original paper proposed MAC as the ''minimal'' alveolar concentration, which was shortly thereafter revised to ''minimum'' alveolar concentration. A lower MAC value represents a more potent volatile anesthetic. Other uses of MAC include MAC-BAR (1.7–2.0 MAC), which is the concentration required to block autonomic reflexes to nociceptive stimuli, and MAC-awake (0.3–0.5 MAC), the concentration required to block voluntary reflexes and control perceptive awareness.

Formal definition

The MAC is the concentration of the vapour (measured as a percentage at 1 atmosphere, i.e. the

partial pressure In a mixture of gases, each constituent gas has a partial pressure which is the notional pressure of that constituent gas as if it alone occupied the entire volume of the original mixture at the same temperature. The total pressure of an ideal g ...

) that prevents patient ''movement'' in response to a supramaximal stimulus (traditionally a set depth and width of skin incisions) in 50% of subjects. This measurement is done at steady state (assuming a constant alveolar concentration for 15 minutes), under the assumption that this allows for an equilibration between the gasses in the alveoli, the

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

and the

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

. MAC is accepted as a valid measure of potency of inhalational general anaesthetics because it remains fairly constant for a given species even under varying conditions.

Meyer-Overton hypothesis

The MAC of a volatile substance is inversely proportional to its

lipid Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include storing ...

solubility (oil:gas coefficient), in most cases. This is the Meyer-Overton hypothesis put forward in 1899–1901 by Hans Horst Meyer and Charles Ernest Overton. MAC is inversely related to potency, i.e. high MAC equals low potency. The hypothesis correlates lipid solubility of an anaesthetic agent with potency (1/MAC) and suggests that onset of anaesthesia occurs when sufficient molecules of the anaesthetic agent have dissolved in the cell's lipid membranes, resulting in anaesthesia. Exceptions to the Meyer-Overton hypothesis can result from: * convulsant property of an agent * specific receptor (various agents may exhibit an additional effect through specific receptors) * co-administration of Alpha₂ agonists (dexmedetomidine) and/or opioid receptor agonists (morphine/fentanyl) can decrease the MAC * Mullin's critical volume hypothesis * Positive modulation of

GABA GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid, γ-aminobutyric acid) is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the developmentally mature mammalian central nervous system. Its principal role is reducing neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. GA ...

at GABA_A receptors by barbiturates or benzodiazepines

Factors affecting MAC

Certain physiological and pathological states may alter MAC. For example, MAC increases with hyperthermia and hypernatremia. Conversely, anemia, hypercarbia, hypoxia, hypothermia, hypotension (MAP < 40 mmHg), and pregnancy seem to decrease MAC. Duration of anesthesia, gender seem to have little effect on MAC. Age has been shown to affect MAC. MAC begins to rise at one month of age with a peak at approximately 6 months of age. There is a subsequent steady decline in MAC with increasing age, with the exception of another peak during puberty. There is a linear model that describes the change in MAC of approximately 6% per decade of age. Medications, illicit drugs, and prior substance use history have also been found to affect MAC. For example, acute use of amphetamines, cocaine, ephedrine, and chronic use of alcohol increase MAC. Whereas, administration of propofol, etomidate, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, ketamine, opiates, local anesthetics, lithium, verapamil, and alpha 2-agonists (dexmedetomidine, clonidine) decrease MAC. Acute alcohol intoxication and chronic amphetamine use have also been found to decrease MAC. MAC values are additive. For instance, when applying 0.3 MAC of drug X and 1 MAC of drug Y the total MAC achieved is 1.3 MAC. In this way nitrous oxide is often used as a "carrier" gas to decrease the anesthetic requirement of other drugs.

Common MAC values

Values are known to decrease with age and the following are given based on a 40-year-old (MAC₄₀):* *

Nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...

– 104 *

Xenon Xenon is a chemical element; it has symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

– 72 * Desflurane – 6.6 * Ethyl ether – 3.2 *

Sevoflurane Sevoflurane, sold under the brand name Sevorane, among others, is a sweet-smelling, nonflammable, highly fluorinated methyl isopropyl ether used as an inhalational anaesthetic for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. After desflu ...

– 1.8 *

Enflurane Enflurane (2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethyl difluoromethyl ether) is a halogenated ether. Developed by Ross Terrell in 1963, it was first used clinically in 1966. It was increasingly used for inhalational anesthesia during the 1970s and 1980s but ...

– 1.63 * Isoflurane – 1.17 *

Halothane Halothane, sold under the brand name Fluothane among others, is a general anaesthetic. It can be used to induce or maintain anaesthesia. One of its benefits is that it does not increase the production of saliva, which can be particularly useful ...

– 0.75 *

Chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane (often abbreviated as TCM), is an organochloride with the formula and a common solvent. It is a volatile, colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to refrigerants and po ...

– 0.5 * Methoxyflurane – 0.16

References

{{Anesthesia Anesthesia