Article date: December 1961
By: ROSEMARY CASS, T. L. B. SPRIGGS in Volume 17, Issue 3, pages 442-450
A single dose of guanethidine produces a substantial, long‐lasting depletion of tissue catecholamines in the rat, whereas a similar dose of bretylium has no effect. Both drugs produce block of the eserine‐induced sympathetic pressor effect. Block by guanethidine is induced more rapidly than is amine depletion. When amine depletion is maximal, a noradrenaline infusion is capable of restoring the response to eserine, but no restoration of the response to eserine occurs after noradrenaline infusion into bretylium‐treated rats. Catecholamine levels in isolated tissues are not reduced when complete block of sympathetic nerve stimulation has been produced by guanethidine. It is suggested that guanethidine possesses a primary bretylium‐like, and a secondary reserpine‐like, blocking action. Guanethidine produces a transient lowering of intestinal 5‐hydroxytryptamine, and this coincides with increased intestinal motility.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1961.tb01131.x
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