THE EFFECTS OF INTRAVENOUSLY ADMINISTERED VERATRUM VIRIDE IN HYPERTENSIVE AND NORMOTENSIVE SUBJECTS

Abstract

The intraven. admn. of Veratrum viride caused a similar depressor response to a fixed dose in 38 hypertensive and 10 normotensive subjects. Considerable variability of this response was exhibited within each group. The individual degree of response in the hypertensive patients could be correlated only with the initial diastolic pressure, in that patients with higher levels showed a significantly smaller percentile fall. Symptoms of nausea and vomiting were present in 1/3 of the patients. They were unrelated to the percentile fall of blood pressure and were not diminished by simultaneous admn. of atropine sulfate. However, atropine did prevent bradycardia without significantly affecting the depressor response. Repeated interval injns. of V. viride revealed no evidence of the development of tolerance in the blood pressure response. Studies with doses of increasing size demonstrated a "leveling off of the dose-effect curve, with the eventual appearance of nausea and vomiting as the limiting factor to further increase. The studies show that V. viride consistently produces a fall in blood pressure, but emphasize the difficulty in determining individual responsiveness to the drug.