A SEARCH FOR MORE EFFECTIVE MUSCLE RELAXANTS AMONG THE GLYCEROL ETHERS AND DIOXOLANES

¹ Dept. of Pharmacology, University of Utah, College of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah
² Dept. of Pharmacology, Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, and the Institute for Psychosomatic and Psychiatric Research and Training, Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago

1) Centrally acting muscle relaxants of mephenesin type are shown to abolish pinna reflex earlier than corneal reflex, in contrast to many other types of central depressants. The smooth onset and greater degree of relaxation are other distinguishing features of glycerol ethers.

2) A simple two-dose method for determining "half-time" of drug action is presented.

3) It is shown that increasing molecular weight decreases duration of action while potency is optimum with a total of approximately 10-12 carbons. In one group of isomers, duration of action tends to increase with increasing refractive index.

4) Data are presented on a potentially useful combination of mephenesin with another glycerol ether, Troxanol.