Reversal of Reserpine-induced Hypothermia by Pharmacological Agents other than Antidepressants

Abstract

IT is known that antidepressants reverse or antagonize many of the effects of reserpine. A widely used test for the detection and evaluation of antidepressants is based on their calorigenic action in reserpinized mice¹. In this test all types of clinically useful antidepressants are active but the test is not specific for this class of compound. Potent pharmacological agents such as aspirin, chlorpromazine and morphine, none of which is a clinically useful antidepressant, are accepted as positive by the test. Jori, Paglialunga and Garattini² have shown that the calorigenic action of desipramine in rats was antagonized by α and β-sympathetic receptor blocking agents. Interest in the mechanism involved, and the possibility of making the test more specific, prompted an investigation of the action of α and β-blocking drugs on the calorigenic action of non-antidepressant compounds in mice.