Lack of sex differences to the subjective effects of nitrous oxide in healthy volunteers.
Drug and alcohol dependence December 1, 2010 James P Zacny, Jenny M Jun
A retrospective analysis of data from nine laboratory studies involving 110 healthy volunteers (38 females, 72 males) found that sex does not modulate the subjective effects of inhaling 30% nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide produced several subjective effects, including those related to abuse liability such as feeling elated, having pleasant thoughts, and drug liking, but females and males showed similar responses. The authors suggest that future prospective studies could examine other concentrations, measures like choice or analgesic response, and other inhaled general anesthetics to better understand the role of sex in responses to inhalants.