WOOL AS AN INDICATOR OF NEUROPHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY 83 



As to the second question about which bonds are involved in the binding of 

 substances to wool, I cannot tell you which type of bond is actually involved 

 in each particular case. This is a very complex problem. 



Dr. Morales: The reason I ask you is that it sounds like awfully tight 

 binding. I was going to question whether you thought these relatively loose 

 bonds would account for such tight binding. 



Dr. Fischer: The fact is that theoretically you can desorb every substance 

 completely from wool. The question is only one of the appropriate experimental 

 conditions, i.e. how long a time, what pH and what temperature, etc. you use. 

 Our affinity values, I believe, represent equilibrium values under the stated 

 experimental conditions. 



Dr. Amadeo S. Marrazzi (Army Chemical Center) : I suppose if it is 

 justifiable to have a model psychosis it is justifiable to have a model receptor. 

 I would like to shift the discussion from a purely chemical to a functional one 

 as well and I would like to point out two facts that seem to me to need expla- 

 nation. On the basis of affinity of chlorpromazine for the wool you predict an 

 antagonism to the psychosis; whereas, in fact, the only antagonism is to one 

 aspect of it. Hallucinations still go on so there is not a true pharmacological 

 antagonism. In other instances with serotonin where you would have very low 

 affinity, Dr. Hart and I have been using synaptic inhibition as an index and 

 that, of course, requires affinity. In our experiments serotonin is more active 

 despite its low affinity on your model. 



Dr. Fischer: Thank you, Dr. Marrazzi. I think chlorpromazine is very 

 likely to act on quite a few different receptors; if there is an antagonism between 

 chlorpromazine and certain symptoms of an LSD caused model psychosis, 

 then this antagonism is likely to be due to the interaction of only one or a few 

 receptors with the drug. I am told by the psychiatrists and have seen myself 

 that a patient who sees the devil and is frightened by him prior to chlorproma- 

 zine, sees the devil even after chlorpromazine, although he is not frightened 

 anymore. 



