Passage of gallamine from blood into the liquor space in man and in dog

Abstract

1 Patients receiving an intravenous injection of 2–3·8 mg/kg gallamine showed gallamine-like activity in their lumbar c.s.f. collected 15 and 70–100 min after the injection. The activity assayed on acetylcholine contractions of frog rectus muscle was equivalent to between 0·1 and 0·75 μg/ml gallamine. 2 In anaesthetized dogs an intravenous injection as well as an intravenous infusion of gallamine led to the appearance of gallamine-like activity in the cisternal c.s.f. and, on perfusion of the cerebral ventricles, in the effluent collected from the cisterna magna. 3 After an intravenous injection of 1 mg/kg the activity in the cisternal c.s.f. corresponded to between 0·2 and 1 μg/ml and in the effluent to between 130 and 175 ng/min during the first 15 min perfusion and then declined. 4 On intravenous infusion of gallamine at a rate of 10 (μg/kg)/min for 2 h the cisternal c.s.f. showed a uniform gallamine-like activity corresponding to between 0·4 and 0·67 μg/ml during the infusion. In the cisternal effluent the gallamine-like activity rose initially to between 20 and 90 ng/min but declined before the infusion was ended. 5 The intravenous injection of gallamine caused respiratory paralysis but did not affect arterial blood pressure; its intravenous infusion caused no respiratory paralysis and did not affect arterial blood pressure.