Nature 176, 701 (08 October 1955); doi:10.1038/176701a0

Anti-acetylcholine and Anti-histamine Actions of the Total Alkaloids of Rauwolfia serpentina Benth

M. L. CHATTERJEE & H. F. HÄUSLER

Department of Pharmacology, School of Tropical Medicine, Calcutta.

Dasgupta, Ray, Roy and Werner¹, Mukherjee² and the present authors³ have made certain observations on the anti-adrenaline effect of extracts of Rauwolfia serpentina, but their effects on the action of acetyl-choline or of histamine have not yet been reported. Experiments have been carried out on isolated strips of guinea pig ileum in Dale's bath, containing oxygenated Ringer–Locke's solution at 35° C., and the modifications caused by varying concentrations (10^-6 to 10^-4 gm./ml.) of extracts of Rauwolfia serpentina (total alkaloids extracted in 2 per cent hydrochloric acid) on the action of acetylcholine (10^-8 gm./ml.) or of histamine (10-⁸ to 10^-7 gm./ml.) were studied. The extracts produced, by themselves, a definite but slight and transient contraction of the intestine. Dasgupta et al. ¹ did not, however, find any stimulating effect on intestine in situ, whereas Chopra, Gupta and Mukherjee⁴ mention a stimulating property of the extract on such a preparation. (Dr. R. P. Banerjee, of the Indian Council for Medical Research, prepared extracts of Rauwolfia serpentina in three different concentrations of hydrochloric acid (namely, 2, 5 and 10 per cent) with the view of fractionating the different active principles. The results obtained with an extract in 2 per cent hydrochloric acid are described here; those with 5 and 10 per cent acid extracts are under investigation.)

1. Dasgupta, S. R. , Ray, G. K. , Roy, P. K. , and Werner, G. , Ind. J Med. Res., 7, 229 (1953).
2. Mukherjee, J. N. , Nature, 172, 867 (1953). | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
3. Chatterjee, M. L. , and Häusler, H. F. , Bull. Calcutta School Trop. Med., 3, 70 (1955). | ChemPort |
4. Chopra, R. N. , Gupta, J. C. , and Mukherjee, B. , Ind. J. Med. Res., 21, 261 (1933). | ChemPort |