In this study the effect of adrenergic receptor agonists and antagonists on physostigmine induced yawning was investigated. Intraperitoneal injection of different doses of physostigmine (0.03, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg) caused yawning in white rats. The greatest response was seen at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg physostigmine. Phenylephrine, an α1 agonist, and clonidine, an α2 agonist, led to a decrease in...

Physostigmine, as the salicylate salt, is being developed as a drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The memory and learning enhancement capabilities as well as other pharmacological effects of physostigmine will be thoroughly reviewed in this paper. Physostigmine (Antilirium®, Isopto®, eserine), an alkaloid from the West African perennial shrub Physostigma venenosum, is the oldest kno...

The cardiovascular effects of an intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of physostigmine were studied using conscious cats. Physostigmine (5-25 micrograms: 5 microliters) caused a dose-dependent increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR). The highest dose (25 micrograms) increased MAP and HR by 32 +/- 3 mmHg and 45 +/- 5 beats/min, respectively (n = 5). Pre-administration ...

The plant-derived acetylcholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine has previously been shown to act on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) causing either direct activation or potentiation of currents elicited by low concentrations of nicotinic agonists, or, at higher concentrations, channel block. We examined mouse adult-type muscle nAChR activation by physostigmine and found that channel ...

The acute toxicity of organophosphorus (OP) compounds in mammals is due to their irreversible inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the nervous system, which leads to increased synaptic acetylcholine levels. The protective actions of intravenously (i.v.) administered pyridostigmine, physostigmine, eptastigmine, and an organophosphate hydrolase, phosphotriesterase, in acute sarin intoxica...

The effectiveness of physostigmine and atropine pretreatment against the lethal effects of sarin was studied in rats given lethal subcutaneous injections (130 micrograms/kg) of the organophosphate. Pretreatment of these animals with physostigmine 30 min prior to injection of sarin reduced mortality to 28% and when the drug coadministered with atropine only 4% of the animals died. The latter tre...

Visuo-attentional deficits occur early in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and are considered more responsive to pro-cholinergic therapy than characteristic memory disturbances. We hypothesised that neural responses in AD during visuo-attentional processing would be impaired relative to controls, yet partially susceptible to improvement with the cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine. We studied 16 mil...

INTRODUCTION Gamma-hydroxybutyrate is a potent sedative-hypnotic agent and a popular drug of abuse. In the United States, gamma-hydroxybutyrate is a Schedule I controlled substance (sodium oxybate) with orphan drug status for the treatment of narcolepsy within approved clinical studies. Physostigmine is a carbamate inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase that is reported to attenuate the sedative eff...

Physostigmine, at 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 mg/kg, was tested for effect on the survival of mice exposed to 5% O2-95% N2. Some treated animals survived for one hour under the hypoxic atmosphere (2 out of 14 at 0.1 mg/kg and 8 out of 28 at 0.2 and 0.3 mg/kg), an event never observed in untreated controls. The physostigmine-treated animals that died before the hour showed a dose-related increase in surviv...