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THE ACTION OF GUANETHIDINE WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
Author(s) -
ABERCROMBIE G. F.,
DAVIES B. N.
Publication year - 1963
Publication title -
british journal of pharmacology and chemotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.432
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1476-5381
pISSN - 0366-0826
DOI - 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1963.tb01307.x
Subject(s) - guanethidine , adrenal medulla , splanchnic nerves , free nerve ending , stimulation , sympathetic nervous system , sympathetic nerve , endocrinology , chemistry , norepinephrine , medicine , neuroscience , catecholamine , biology , blood pressure , dopamine
It has been suggested that guanethidine can release and then deplete postganglionic sympathetic nerve endings of noradrenaline. However, no release of noradrenaline from postganglionic nerve endings or from the adrenal medulla by guanethidine was found by direct experiment. Although release of noradrenaline from postganglionic sympathetic nerve endings in response to nerve stimulation was rapidly reduced and finally abolished by guanethidine, the drug did not appear to affect the release of catechol amines from the adrenal medulla in response to splanchnic nerve stimulation. The nature of the action of guanethidine is discussed, and it is concluded that it blocks the effect of postganglionic sympathetic nerve stimulation by interfering with the synthesis of transmitter and that it also has a direct sympathomimetic effect.