CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DEPRESSANT EFFECTS OF SOME INDOLYLETHYLPYRIDINES

¹ Research Laboratories, Irwin, Neisler & Co., Decatur, Illinois

Some pharmacological effects of a series of indolylethylpyridines have been described. All of the compounds prolonged anesthesia induced in mice by hexobarbital and pentobarbital. With the exception of the 1-substituted indole derivative, the compounds exhibited potent antagonism to amphetamine-stimulated motor activity. These effects were evident in doses which had little or no effect on voluntary motor activity. In the monkey, the N-niethyl indole derivative exerted a calming effect without any evidence of sedation. The results of comparative tests indicate that. the indolvlethylpyridines posess some properties in common with chlorpromazine and meprobamate. The indole derivatives were considerably more potent than meprobamate and although, in general, they were not as potent as chlorpromazine, they appeared be more specific in that they did not exhibit the broad spectrum of depressant activity of chlorpromazine.