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Biomedical subjects

J M Telford

Publications and source records attributed to J M Telford.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Influence of thyroid hormones on the sensitivity of cardiac and smooth muscle to biogenic amines and other drugs.

1. Rats and guinea-pigs were injected with 1-thyroxine or thyroidectomized. Sensitivity of isolated tissues and of the intact cardiovascular system to drugs was investigated.2. Thyroxine increased the sensitivity of the isolated perfused heart to noradrenaline, adrenaline, isoprenaline, acetylcholine and histamine.3. Thyroxine increased the sensitivity of the rat isolated uterus to noradrenaline, adrenaline, isoprenaline, acetylcholine, histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine.4. In contrast, thyroxine decreased the sensitivity of the isolated ileum to acetylcholine, histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine, but not to adrenaline.5. Thyroxine also decreased the sensitivity of the isolated aorta to noradrenaline, adrenaline, histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine.6. In pithed rats, thyroxine potentiated pressor responses to (+)-amphetamine but not to noradrenaline or synephrine.7. In anaesthetized thyroxine-treated rats, blood pressure responses to (+)-amphetamine were potentiated while those to noradrenaline were unaltered. Responses to acetylcholine were increased, and the response to isoprenaline became purely pressor.8. Thyroxine-induced changes in the sensitivity of the isolated uterus and ileum to modification of the concentration of calcium in the physiological salt solution paralleled the changes in drug sensitivity of these tissues.9. In general, thyroidectomy produced the opposite effects to those of thyroxine.10. It is concluded that there is no specific interaction between thyroxine and sympathomimetic amines, the effect of thyroxine on drug sensitivity being non-specific.

Acetylcholine↗

The effect of thyroid hormones on the action of some centrally acting drugs.

1. The effect of administration of thyroxine or thyroidectomy on the pharmacological action of (+)-amphetamine, caffeine, hexobarbitone and morphine was determined in rats or mice.2. Locomotor activity induced by (+)-amphetamine or caffeine was increased by hyperthyroidism and decreased by hypothyroidism.3. The LD50s of (+)-amphetamine and caffeine in hyperthyroid rats were 1/30 and 2/5 that of control rats. With each drug, the LD50 regression lines in hyperthyroid and control rats were not parallel, suggesting that hyperthyroidism modifies the mechanism of the toxic effects. Hypothyroidism reduced toxicity to (+)-amphetamine.4. Hexobarbitone sleeping time was prolonged in hyperthyroid male rats, but was shortened in hyperthyroid female rats. In control rats, sleeping time was approximately four times as long in females as it was in males. Ethinyloestradiol treatment and castration also prolonged sleeping time in male rats. No further prolongation was produced by combined administration of thyroxine and ethinyloestradiol, but thyroxine further prolonged the sleeping time of castrated rats indicating that its mode of action in producing these changes is not mediated via sex hormones.5. In contrast to rats, a sex difference in the duration of action of hexobarbitone was not found in mice. Thyroxine prolonged sleeping time equally in each sex.6. Analgesia induced by morphine in mice was unaffected by hyperthyroidism. No increase in sedative or ;Straub tail' activity could be detected, but toxicity was increased when higher doses of morphine were used.7. The mechanism by which thyroid hormones produce these changes in sensitivity to centrally acting drugs is discussed. It is suggested that the effects of thyroxine vary according to whether the mode of action of the drug or its metabolism is modified.

Analgesia↗

Investigations into the mechanism of the antifertility action of minimal doses of megestrol acetate in the rabbit.

1. Experiments have been performed to investigate the mechanism by which low doses of megestrol acetate have an antifertility action.2. It was found that the dose of megestrol acetate required to prevent pregnancy in nine of ten New Zealand White rabbits when given on 3 consecutive days, the last of which was the day of insemination, was 50 mug/kg daily.3. This treatment reduced the numbers of sperm recoverable from the uterus at various times after insemination, but egg transfer experiments showed that neither egg viability nor fertilization was affected on day 1 of pregnancy.4. Treatment with megestrol acetate for 3 days caused the fertilized eggs to enter the uterus approximately 48 h prematurely. Treatment with megestrol acetate for longer periods caused a similar but more marked increase in the rate of transport of eggs in the oviduct.5. Megestrol acetate did not modify oviduct opening pressure, but the volume of oviduct fluid secretion was reduced earlier and transport of fluid through the oviduct was accelerated compared with controls.6. Transfer of eggs on various days from the uteri of untreated rabbits to the uteri of treated rabbits indicated that the development of the endometrium which occurs in pregnancy may be advanced by megestrol administration. Histological examination of the endometrial proliferation induced by megestrol acetate confirmed that this was so.7. It is concluded that the antifertility action of megestrol acetate in doses that do not necessarily inhibit ovulation is due to a combination of accelerated egg transport and advanced endometrial development.

Animals↗

The significance of adenosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate for the contraction of smooth muscle.

1. The influence of adenosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate (3',5'-AMP) and of drugs believed to increase or decrease its concentration in the tissues has been determined on the response of vascular and uterine smooth muscles to catecholamines. Generally, drugs believed to increase tissue content of 3',5'-AMP potentiated the responses and those believed to decrease it depressed them.2. The cardiovascular responses of dogs (with major vessels occluded in the chest) to carotid occlusion were potentiated by infusions of theophylline and sodium fluoride. Infusion of theophylline also potentiated the response of the occluded abdominal vessels to noradrenaline.3. Intravenous infusions of theophylline and sodium fluoride potentiated pressor responses to catecholamines in the pithed rat. Infusions of iminazole depressed the responses in two animals and was without effect in two others.4. In spinal cats intravenous infusions of theophylline potentiated pressor responses to catecholamines, but sodium fluoride was without effect.5. Contractions of the isolated rat aortic strip to noradrenaline were always potentiated by sodium fluoride and by theophylline, and depressed by iminazole, when they were recorded isometrically. Theophylline always potentiated the contractions, when they were recorded isotonically but sodium fluoride was mostly, and iminazole always, ineffective.6. 3',5'-AMP in concentrations from 0.1 to 20 mug/ml. potentiated the responses of the isolated rat aortic strip to noradrenaline in thirty-eight experiments out of hundred. Concentrations from 10 to 500 mug/ml. sometimes depressed contractions recorded isometrically. In five experiments, exposure to low concentrations for 3 hr increased the resting tension of the preparation.7. Responses to noradrenaline of uteri from oestradiol-treated rabbits were potentiated by vasopressin and by sodium fluoride, but not by theophylline or iminazole. In progesterone-treated animals the responses were unaffected by vasopressin and sodium fluoride, but potentiated by theophylline and depressed by iminazole. 3',5'-AMP was without effect on the uterine responses.8. It is concluded that the results support the view that an increase in the tissue content of 3',5'-AMP potentiates the contraction of vascular and uterine smooth muscle in response to catecholamine. This view is supported by the observation that the nucleotide itself can potentiate the responses of the rat aortic strip to noradrenaline.

Adenine Nucleotides↗