Mechanism of hypotensive action of reserpine, an alkaloid of Rauwolfia serpentina

Abstract

STUDIES on the pharmacology of extracts of Rauwolfia serpentina have been reported by Chopra, Gupta and Mukherjee1, Ray et al.2 and Dasgupta et al.3. Chopra, Gupta and Mukherjee1 reported that the alkaloid with which they were working had a marked hypotensive effect which was in part due to depression of central nervous mechanisms, since it was less marked in decerebrate animals, but appeared also to result in part from a direct inhibitory effect on the musculature of the blood vessels. They demonstrated also a fall in the output of the isolated heart. Most subsequent work has suggested that the hypotensive effect of Rauwolfia alkaloids is mediated solely via central nervous mechanisms. © 1954 Nature Publishing Group.