ON THE ACTION OF NICOTINE UPON RESPIRATION WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO ITS BLOCKADE BY HEXAMETHONIUM

Abstract

There have been many studies on the respiratory action of nicotine. As early as in 1919, M. Ozolio de Almeida (1) pointed out that intravenous administration of nicotine gave rise to a sequence of following respiratory reactions: a primary arrest, a short period of acceleration, and then a long arrest of respiration, the last being descrived as “l'apnée nicotinique.” Later, the brilliant works of C. Ileymans et al. (2) proved that the respiratory stimulation of nicotine was accounted for by the chemoreceptor reflex from the carotid and aortic bodies in origin, but the depressant action, especially the mechanism of the two apnoeas caused by nicotine, has not yet been clearly elucidated in spite of their characteristic features. The author analyzed the mechanism of these actions of nicotine on respiration as a part of the “Studies on the Autonomic Reflexes” being conducted in our laboratory, and obtained some newer results including the findings concerning blockade of the nicotine action by hexamethonium.