Abstract
The effect of diphenylhydantoin on cardiac sympathetic nerve activity was evaluated in Dial-urethane anesthetized cats by monitoring 1) the spontaneous electrical activity in preganglionic sympathetic nerve fibers, 2) the right ventricular coatractile force, 3) the femoral arterial blood pressure and 4) the electrocardiogram. Intravenous injections of diphenylhydantoin (2, 4, 8 and 16 mg/kg) were found to cause dose-dependent decreases in nerve activity, contractile force, blood pressure and heart rate. Diphenylhydantoin in the same dose range was found to depress deslanoside-induced sympathetic nerve firing as well as simultaneously to convert deslanoside-induced ventricular tachycardia to sinus rhythm. These results suggest that diphenylhydantoin has the capacity to depress cardiac sympathetic nerve activity and that this neurodepressant action is basic to its effect on the cardiovascular system.
Footnotes
- Received April 19, 1971.
- Accepted August 10, 1971.
- © 1971 by The Willams & Wilkins Co.
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