THE RESPIRATORY ACTIVITY OF CERTAIN NEUROMUSCULAR BLOCKING COMPOUNDS: A DIRECT PERIPHERAL AND CENTRAL COMPARISON

¹ National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness, National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Bethesda, Maryland

A vascularly isolated, neurally intact head preparation has been used to determine whether succinylcholine, decamethonium or d-tubocurarine affect breathing by an action on central mechanisms. Doses of these compounds which produce a prolonged apnea in an anesthetized animal do not influence breathing in the absence of a peripheral effect. Thus, the data obtained in this study does not agree with the concept that these neuromuscular blocking compounds depress respiration by an action on central structures.