THE EFFECTS OF MEPROBAMATE ON PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO COLD

Meprobamate (800 mg) depresses both respiratory and cardiovascular responses of men during exposure to neutral (80 °F, 26.7 °C) and cold (50 °F, 10.0 °C) environments. The inhibition of these responses is most severe during exposure to cold when the usual compensatory increases elicited by this stress are minimized. Drug-treated subjects effect only small increases in systolic and diastolic pressures during cold exposure and virtually no change in heart and respiratory rates. Although rectal temperatures of both drug and placebo groups decrease uniformly during exposure to a neutral environment, the subsequent increase stimulated by cold exposure is depressed in meprobamate-treated subjects. No differences in the hematocrit increase induced by cold exposure were detected between drug and placebo groups.