Atropine, scopolamine, and Ditran, three centrally active anticholinergic compounds, were administered to 158 normal young males in a dose range broader than any previously reported to study serially their central and peripheral effects. The findings indicate that there are not qualitative differences in the actions of these compounds, but there are differences in potency, relative central affinity, and time course of effects. The toxicity of belladonna-related substances responds well to certain anticholinesterase substances, such as physostigmine, sarin, and THA, but not to others (neostigmine and DFP), nor does it respond to the unrelated drug methylphenidate nor to the phenothiazines. The hallucinations, confusion, and incoherence produced by high doses of anticholinergic compounds seem best classified as simple delirium, rather than as “psychotomimetic” or “psychedelic” syndromes.
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James S. Ketchum
Present address: Medical Field Service School, Fort Sam Houston, Texas
Edward B. Crowell Jr.
Present address: Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, Wisconsin
George K. Aghajanian
Present address: Department of Psychiatry, Yale Medical School, New Haven, Connecticut
Arthur H. Hayes Jr.
Present address: Department of Medicine, Hershey Medical College, Hershey, Penna
Clinical Investigation Section, Biomedical Laboratory, 21010, Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland
James S. Ketchum, Frederick R. Sidell, Edward B. Crowell Jr., George K. Aghajanian & Arthur H. Hayes Jr.
Ketchum, J.S., Sidell, F.R., Crowell, E.B. et al. Atropine, scopolamine, and Ditran: Comparative pharmacology and antagonists in man. Psychopharmacologia 28, 121–145 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421398
Received: 25 February 1972
Revised: 31 August 1972
Issue Date: June 1973
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421398
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