Some effects of nicotine‐like substances and their relation to sensory nerve endings

Brown, Geoff; Gray, J. A. B.

doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1948.sp004275

Cited by 122 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…A similar action of acetylcholine and of nicotine has been observed in the isolated rabbit auricles and found to be blocked by hexamethonium (Kottegoda, 1953a). The fourth is the stimulant action of acetylcholine and of nicotine on sensory nerve endings in the skin described by Brown and Gray (1948). Douglas and Gray (1953) have recently shown that this action, like that on the carotid body, is blocked by hexamethonium, but that the receptors in the skin still discharge impulses in response to touch.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Nicotine‐like Actions in Auricles and Blood Vessels After Denervation

Ginzel

Kottegoda

1953

British Journal of Pharmacology and Chemotherapy

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The work to be described in this paper is a continuation of observations made on the action of nicotine and acetylcholine in the isolated auricles of the rabbit heart and in the perfused vessels of the rabbit ear (Kottegoda, 1953a(Kottegoda, , 1953b. Nicotine and acetylcholine were found to stimulate the auricles in the presence of atropine, and the stimulant action was blocked by hexamethonium. Similarly nicotine was found to constrict the vessels of the rabbit ear; acetylcholine in the presence of atropine or when the perfusion had continued for 24 hours had the same effect. This constrictor action was blocked by hexamethonium; in the presence of benzylimidazoline (Priscol) the constrictor action was reversed to a dilator action, and this dilator action was also blocked by hexamethonium. The observations suggested that the actions of nicotine and of acetylcholine were indirect and were due to the liberation of an adrenaline-like substance. Because of these and various other findings discussed later further experiments were undertaken to test the action of nicotine and acetylcholine on auricles and on vessels which had been denervated some time previously.For experiments on auricles, cats were used in place of rabbits, as the former were found to stand the operation better. A few auricles from normal cats were tested with nicotine and acetylcholine in the presence of atropine; it was found that they behaved like rabbit auricles towards these substances. METHODSCat Auricles. Both stellate ganglia were removed from cats under ether and pentobarbitone sodium (30 mg./kg. body weight intraperitoneally). After 12 to 14 days the animals were killed, the auricles dissected out, and the response to acetylcholine and nicotine tested according to the method described earlier (Kottegoda, 1953a).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Nicotine‐like Actions in Auricles and Blood Vessels After Denervation

Ginzel

Kottegoda

1953

British Journal of Pharmacology and Chemotherapy

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“…The possibility must be considered that nicotine acts on the post-ganglionic fibres of the myenteric plexus in view of the fact that nicotine stimulates not only ganglion cells but also nerve fibres or endings, for instance in the skin and mesentery (Coon & Rothman, 1940;Brown & Gray, 1948).…”

Section: Plexus-free Intestinal Musclementioning

confidence: 99%

The reactions of plexus‐free circular muscle of cat jejunum to drugs

Evans¹,

Schild²

1953

The Journal of Physiology

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Studies on the behaviour of enteric plexus-free preparations of the small intestine were first carried out by Magnus (1904a-c). He found that when the longitudinal muscle of the cat's small intestine is stripped off the underlying circular coat, the ganglion cells of the myenteric plexus of Auerbach adhere to the longitudinal layer and the circular muscle can be freed from ganglia. Magnus found that these ganglion-free circular muscle preparations did not contract rhythmically when suspended in Locke's solution and concluded that spontaneous contractions normally observed in intestinal muscle are neurogenic in origin. All later workers, however, observed spontaneous activity in the completely ganglion-free circular muscle (Gunn & Underhill, 1914; Alvarez & Mahoney, 1922;Evans & Underhill, 1923;Gasser, 1926; Eura, 1927;Van Esveld, 1928).Magnus also used the ganglion-free preparations of circular muscle to study the site of action of certain drugs, including nicotine, eserine and barium. These pharmacological experiments have been repeated by Gasser (1926) and by Van Esveld (1928). Although these three workers used similar methods in preparing ganglion-free intestinal strips, their results disagree both with regard to spontaneous activity of the ganglion-free preparations and their reactions to nicotine. Magnus and Gasser found that nicotine does not cause contraction of the ganglion-free strips, and concluded that stimulation of the intestinal muscle by nicotine is due entirely to an action on the ganglion cells of the myenteric plexus. This view is now generally accepted, but is contradicted by the findings of Van Esveld who found that nicotine stimulates the ganglion-free preparations. Van Esveld's findings, which he checked by a careful histological search for ganglion cells, have received surprisingly little attention.

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“…Some forms of pain are thought to be mediated by small myelinated fibres, and fibres of this type in cutaneous nerves are known to be excited by acetylcholine (Brown & Gray, 1948;Douglas & Gray, 1953)-a drug which causes pain when injected into the skin (Armstrong, Dry, Keele & Markham, 1953). It would be valuable to know whether the action of acetylcholine (ACh) was confined to myelinated fibres or whether it extended to the nonmyelinated fibres which are also believed to signal certain painful stimuli.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%