A Pressor Effect of High Doses of Tubocurarine in the Ferret

Abstract

The effect of tubocurarine on arterial blood pressure was examined in the ferret At low doses, arterial pressure dropped as in other species. However, at higher doses a marked pressor response was seen. This was due to stimulation of nicotinic sites on ganglia. The existence of a species in which the ganglionic effect of tubocurarine is stimulatory, but in which tubocurarine lowers arterial pressure at the dose range active at the neuromuscular junction, implies that the characteristic hypotensive effect of tubocurarine does not involve a ganglionic mechanism.