Key result
Veratrum alkaloids lower blood pressure primarily through vagally mediated reflexes in historical hypertensive conditions.
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The veratrum alkaloids were used clinically prior to the detailed knowledge of their pharma- cology, Baker (1860) describing the successful treatment of a case of eclampsia. The pharmacological actions of the alkaloids were reported by Prevost in 1866, and von Bezold and Hirt (1867) attributed the fall in blood pressure and bradycardia to vagal reflexes arising from the heart itself. Cramer (1915) thought these actions were due to a vagal reflex from the lungs.
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Doyle et al. (1953) conducted a review in Hypertension. Veratrum alkaloids (neogermitrine and protoveratrine) was evaluated. Veratrum alkaloids have a historical basis of clinical use in hypertension and eclampsia, with early pharmacological studies attributing their blood-pressure-lowering effects to vagal reflexes.
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