The pharmacology of decamethonium / by W.D.M. Paton.

  • Paton, William D. M.
Date:
[1951?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The pharmacology of decamethonium / by W.D.M. Paton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    2/16 (page 348)
    that, in so far as these various conditions favor d-tubocurarine, they an¬ tagonize decamethonium.5’ 9-20-22 We were so struck by the inverse rela¬ tionship between the two drugs that we suggested21 that the myasthenic patient might not be hypersensitive to decamethonium, as he is to d-tubo- Table 1 Test d-Tubocurarine Decamethonium (1) Muscle selectivity sensitivity of rat > mouse > rabbit > man and cat sensitivity of man and cat > rabbit > mouse > rat (a) among species (h) within species cat: respiration and soleus more sensitive than tibialis tibialis more sensitive than respiration and soleus man: laryngeal, pharyngeal, and ocular muscles outstandingly sensitive compared to skeletal muscles laryngeal, pharyngeal, and ocular muscles only moderately sensi¬ tive, compared to skeletal muscles (2) Effect of substances raising threshold of end plate to acetylcholine (d-tubo¬ curarine, Flaxedil, penta- methonium, ether anes¬ thesia) . potentiation antagonism (3) Muscle stimulation nil or trivial in all species tested fasciculations, with repe¬ titive firing, in cat muscle and in human muscle. Contractures of denervated cat muscle and avian and frog muscle Chick Test flaccid paralysis spastic paralysis (4) Tension during a tetanus of the motor nerve (5) Miscellaneous rapid decay sustained (1) potassium antagonism no effect (2) previous tetanization of motor nerve antagonism no effect (3) phenol antagonism no effect (4) anticholinesterases antagonism little effect, occasionally feeble potentiation or antagonism (5) w-OH-phenyldimethyl- ethyl ammonium (Ro 3198) antagonism no effect, or potentiation (6) Effect in myasthenia hypersensitivity normal sensitivity or resistance curarine. Sellick25 was the first to bring evidence that this is the case, and recently Churchill-Davidson and Richardson,6 studying the muscle action potentials of the abductor digiti minimi obtained by stimulating the ulnar nerve at 10 shocks per second, have also found that patients suffering from myasthenia gravis exhibited tolerance to decamethonium. Third, we have the stimulant actions of decamethonium. These are