WOOL AS AN INDICATOR OF N'EUROPHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY 



65 



— omescohne 



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■a 



-I 

 o 



o 



3 



a 



- o° 



— Car 



Q. 



O 



- * 



-3" 



o 

 o 



c 



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-4 



3 

 o 

 a. 

 a 



— 5"° 



•< 

 o 

 =r 

 o 

 S2. 

 35" 



- 6 



Q methedrine 



V A E 



--o 



LSD 



I 



-2 



Millimoles x 10 sorbed by I gm of wool 

 Fig. 1 



Affinity 

 i.e. average millimoles X 10 -2 of drug sorbed by 1 gm. of wool Single dose of drug 



Mescaline 

 Methedrine 

 LAE 

 LSD 



0-0.3 

 0.6 

 1.1 

 2.6 



0.5 gm. 



0.1 gm. 



1 mg. 



100 mg. 



log. of single dose 



-0.3 

 -1.0 



-3.0 

 -4.0 



Pentaquine, displays an affinity of 3.6 X 10" 2 mMoles per 1 gm. of wool. If 

 Pentaquine is administered daily at a dosage four times higher than usual (0.12- 

 0.24 gm./day), it acts as an adrenergic blocking agent (Hoobler and Dontas, 

 1953). This feature seems to be, among others, a common characteristic of drugs 

 capable of precipitating a model psychosis. 



Liddell and Weil-Malherbe (1953) have shown that methedrine, as well as 

 LSD, blocks adrenergic activity by lowering the blood-epinephrine level, after 

 a short initial increase, during the model psychosis. So might LAE, since it 

 belongs to the family of ergot alkaloids, which are presumed to act centrally to 

 inhibit sympathetic vasomotor tone (Hoobler and Dontas, 1953). However, it 

 should be noted that the peripheral adrenolytic effects of LAE and LSD are 

 about 300-2,000 times weaker than that of dihydroergotamine (Rothlin). 



