Abstract
STUDIES on the pharmacology of extracts of Rauwolfia serpentina have been reported by Chopra, Gupta and Mukherjee1, Ray et al.2 and Dasgupta et al.3. Chopra, Gupta and Mukherjee1 reported that the alkaloid with which they were working had a marked hypotensive effect which was in part due to depression of central nervous mechanisms, since it was less marked in decerebrate animals, but appeared also to result in part from a direct inhibitory effect on the musculature of the blood vessels. They demonstrated also a fall in the output of the isolated heart. Most subsequent work has suggested that the hypotensive effect of Rauwolfia alkaloids is mediated solely via central nervous mechanisms.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chopra, R. N., Gupta, J. C., and Mukherjee, B., Ind. J. Med. Res., 21, 261 (1933).
Ray, G. K., Roy, P. K., Dasgupta, S. R., and Werner, G., Arch. Exp. Path. u. Pharmakol., 219, 310 (1953).
Dasgupta, S. R., Ray, G. K., and Werner, G., Ind. J. Med. Sci., 7, 597 (1953).
Müller, J. M., Schlittler, E., and Bein, H. J., Experientia, 8, 338 (1952).
Bein, H. J., Gross, F., Tripod, J., and Meier, R., Schweiz. med. Wschr., 83, 1007 (1953).
Bein, H. J., Experientia, 9, 107 (1953).
Trapold, J. H., Plummer, A. J., and Yonkman, F. F., J. Pharmacol., 110, 205 (1954).
Gallagher, D. J. A., Brit. J. Pharmacol. [9, 129 (1954) ].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McQUEEN, E., DOYLE, A. & SMIRK, F. Mechanism of Hypotensive Action of Reserpine, an Alkaloid of Rauwolfia serpentina. Nature 174, 1015 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/1741015b0
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1741015b0
This article is cited by
-
Lippia grata essential oil complexed with β-cyclodextrin ameliorates biochemical and behavioral deficits in an animal model of progressive parkinsonism
Metabolic Brain Disease (2022)
-
Functional Diversity of Plant Metabolome and Microbiome in Health Services to the Human Life
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences (2012)
