REFLEX HYPERPNEA INDUCED BY PAPAVERINE ACTING UPON THE CAROTID AND AORTIC BODIES

¹ Departments of Physiology, Pharmacology and Anesthesiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 4

Papaverine stimulates respiration in cats and dogs through carotid and aortic body chemoreceptors, rather than by a direct action on the respiratory center. In some animals the respiratory stimulation was unusual in that it was preceded or followed by respiratory depression. The local anesthetic activity of papaverine may be a factor in producing the phase of depression. Hexamethonium blocked the respiratory stimulation produced by lobeline but not that produced by cyanide or papaverine.