Abstract
Dasgupta, Ray, Roy and Werner1, Mukherjee2 and the present authors3 have made certain observations on the anti-adrenaline effect of extracts of Rauwolfia serpentina, but their effects on the action of acetyl-choline or of histamine have not yet been reported. Experiments have been carried out on isolated strips of guinea pig ileum in Dale's bath, containing oxygenated Ringer–Locke's solution at 35° C., and the modifications caused by varying concentrations (10−6 to 10−4 gm./ml.) of extracts of Rauwolfia serpentina (total alkaloids extracted in 2 per cent hydrochloric acid) on the action of acetylcholine (10−8 gm./ml.) or of histamine (10−8 to 10−7 gm./ml.) were studied. The extracts produced, by themselves, a definite but slight and transient contraction of the intestine. Dasgupta et al. 1 did not, however, find any stimulating effect on intestine in situ, whereas Chopra, Gupta and Mukherjee4 mention a stimulating property of the extract on such a preparation. (Dr. R. P. Banerjee, of the Indian Council for Medical Research, prepared extracts of Rauwolfia serpentina in three different concentrations of hydrochloric acid (namely, 2, 5 and 10 per cent) with the view of fractionating the different active principles. The results obtained with an extract in 2 per cent hydrochloric acid are described here; those with 5 and 10 per cent acid extracts are under investigation.)
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References
Dasgupta, S. R., Ray, G. K., Roy, P. K., and Werner, G., Ind. J Med. Res., 7, 229 (1953).
Mukherjee, J. N., Nature, 172, 867 (1953).
Chatterjee, M. L., and Häusler, H. F., Bull. Calcutta School Trop. Med., 3, 70 (1955).
Chopra, R. N., Gupta, J. C., and Mukherjee, B., Ind. J. Med. Res., 21, 261 (1933).
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CHATTERJEE, M., HÄUSLER, H. Anti-acetylcholine and Anti-histamine Actions of the Total Alkaloids of Rauwolfia serpentina Benth. Nature 176, 701 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1038/176701a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/176701a0
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