Effect of reserpine on cardiovascular response to smoking

¹ Department of Pharmacology, West Virginia University Medical Center, Morgantown, West Virginia

It has been shown that blood pressure and pulse rate are increased and skin temperature of the extremities is decreased when normal subjects smoke two-thirds of two cigarettes during a period of about 15 min. This standard smoking test has been performed on university students before and after treatment with reserpine (0.25 mg daily) to determine the effect of reserpine on cardiovascular responses to smoking. Blood pressure, pulse rate, finger and toe temperature changes were recorded before and during the smoking test in untreated students and after administration of reserpine for 14 days. The maximum change from control values in ten untreated students and after 14 days of reserpine, respectively, along with P values for differences were as follows: systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) +17, +8, P < .001; diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) +14, +7, P < .001; pulse rate (beats/ min) +27, +13, P < .001; finger temperature (F) –6.4, –4.0, P < .1; toe temperature (F) –2.7, –4.2. Results show that the characteristic increase in blood pressure and pulse rate and, to a lesser extent, the decrease in finger temperature due to smoking are reduced by pretreatment with reserpine.