INTERACTION OF D-TUBOCURARINE, ETHER, CYCLOPROPANE AND THIOPENTAL ON GANGLIONIC TRANSMISSION

¹ The Anesthesia Laboratory of the Harvard Medical School at the Massachusetts General Hospital

This study is concerned with the interaction of certain drugs on the ganglionic transmission of infrequent, single impulses. The cat stellate ganglion was used, left in situ, naturally circulated, and in a resting state.

Under these conditions dTC and ether showed marked depressant effects, while thiopental showed none when administered by infusion. Generally, cyclopropane caused a weak to moderate depression. Its action was unpredictable both from one animal to the other and from one administration to another in the same animal.

The results of combined drug action experiments indicate that dTC and ether add their effects by a simple summation. The data suggest that cyclopropane and dTC may add similarly. The presence of thiopental does not affect the response to dTC.

It has been stressed that in problems of combined drug actions it is imperative to take the individual dose-response relationships into consideration.

The results have been discussed in the light of the specific properties of this preparation.