Effect of Ergotamine Tartrate on Blood Flow and Blood Pressure in the Femoral Artery of the Dog

In reviewing the literature1, 2 on the pharmacodynamic activity and importance of ergot, it was found that its constituents, so far as the activity is concerned, may be divided into 2 groups: (1) specific alkaloids: ergotamine and ergotoxine, and (2) nonspecific amines: histamine and possibly tryramine. The specific alkaloids, to which I shall limit attention, are reported to produce a slow but persistent rise in blood pressure, diminishing with repeated dosage due to vasomotor paralysis until a condition is reached in which there is no rise, or else there is a fall which cannot be raised by epinephrine. Ergotoxine and ergotamine are pharmacodynamically identical. The researches of Brown,3 and Barker4 and their colleagues suggested the possibility that quantitative data on the actual changes in blood flow to the periphery brought about by this drug might be of some general interest. So far as I know, no such data are available.The blood flow was measured by the thermo-stromuhr method developed by Rein.5 T...