High blood gas partition coefficient of a drug corresponds to higher solubility of the drug in blood leading to high concentration of the drug in blood with respect to gas (air in alveoli). If the drug is present at high concentration in the blood, wouldn't it correspond to faster delivery to target tissues-leading to faster anaesthetic effects or induction? What is meant by "more time is required to attain partial pressure in blood for induction" if the drug has high blood gas coefficient"?
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1$\begingroup$ I don't have much knowledge on pharmacology, but I remember the mechanism of action of gaseous anesthetics has something to do with the gas dissolving in the isolating lipid sheath around axons, messing with nerve impulse transmission. Even inert gases like nitrogen can do that at high enough pressures. The blood is mostly water, a polar solvent. I guess if the gas has high affinity to polar blood, it will have lower affinity for nonpolar lipids. But I'm not sure. $\endgroup$– ksousaCommented Apr 23, 2020 at 18:20
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