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Science 12 January 1962:
Vol. 135. no. 3498, pp. 105 - 106
DOI: 10.1126/science.135.3498.105
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Articles

Decarboxylase Inhibitors Affect Convulsion Thresholds to Hexafluorodiethyl Ether

Edward B. Truitt Jr. 1 and Ethel M. Ebersberger 1

1 Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore

Alpha-methyl dihydroxyphenylalanine (agr-MeDOPA) and alpha-methyl meta-tyrosine (agr-MMT) do not lower significantly the convulsion thresholds to hexafluorodiethyl ether in the mouse, whereas reserpine and tetrabenazine produce marked lowering of these thresholds. Other workers have shown that agr-MeDOPA and agr-MMT decrease brain norepinephrine concentrations much more than brain 5-hydroxytryptamine concentrations, while reserpine and tetrabenazine decrease the brain level of these two amines in a parallel fashion. Thus, the fact that agr-MeDOPA and agr-MMT, even in very large doses, do not lower convulsion thresholds and in some cases raise them suggests that the decline in 5-hydroxytryptamine may be implicated in the lowering of convulsion thresholds produced by reserpine and other, similar agents.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)