SOME COCAINE‐LIKE ACTIONS OF 3‐PHENOXYPROPYLGUANIDINE

Abstract

In anaesthetized cats 3‐phenoxypropylguanidine caused a contracture of the nictitating membrane, a dilatation of the pupil and a fall followed by a rise in the arterial blood pressure. In spinal preparations of cats the initial fall in blood pressure was usually absent and the rise in blood pressure subsided to a steady level, which was about 10 mm Hg above the initial pressure. The pressor action and the contracture of the nictitating membrane were inhibited by phenoxybenzamine and by previous treatment with reserpine, but were not abolished by adrenalectomy and bretylium. 3‐Phenoxypropylguanidine potentiated the actions of adrenaline and noradrenaline, increased the blood glucose concentration of the rabbit and decreased the appetite of the cat. The action of tyramine on the cardiovascular system was inhibited by 3‐phenoxypropylguanidine, but the stimulant action of tyramine on the nictitating membrane of the cat was not abolished by this substance. Although 3‐phenoxypropylguanidine produced a local anaesthesia of long duration in guinea‐pig skin, it failed to anaesthetize the rabbit cornea. The responses to stimulation of the preganglionic cervical sympathetic nerve of the cat and the great auricular nerve of the rabbit ear were not abolished by 3‐phenoxypropylguanidine; neither did this substance abolish the nicotinic action of acetylcholine in atropinized cats. Contractions of the rat fundus to tryptamine and 5‐hydroxytryptamine were antagonized by 3‐phenoxypropylguanidine, but were potentiated by cocaine. 1962 British Pharmacological Society