Noble Gases in Pure Lipid Membranes

The mechanism of how a noble gas modifies the excitability of nerve cells and how such excitability can be recovered under hyperbaric pressure remains unclear. Here we present a calorimetric study where the melting point depression of pure lipid membranes induced by noble gases and its recovery with a hydrostatic pressure is addressed. A correlation is found between the electric polarizability (alpha) of these gases and their effect on the melting transition of the membranes. These results concur with other findings to support the idea that general anesthesia only depends on the ability of a certain atom or molecule to increase the general disorder of the membrane.