Indian journal of experimental biology
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Indian J. Exp. Biol. · May 1994
Effect of nifedipine, a calcium channel inhibitor, on sedation produced by reserpine, clonidine and propranolol in mice.
Spontaneous motor activity, rotarod test and observational rating of sedation were employed to study effect of nifedipine on sedation produced by reserpine, clonidine and propranolol. Reserpine (2 mg kg-1), clonidine (4 mg kg-1), and propranolol (40 mg kg-1) significantly reduced spontaneous motor activity and staying capacity of animals on accelerating rotarod (P < 0.01). Observational sedation was also caused significantly as indicated by a higher score in test. ⋯ Nifedipine did not oppose the sedation produced by propranolol which actually became significantly greater in the animals pretreated with nifedipine in all three tests. It is concluded that nifedipine antagonizes the sedation produced by reserpine and clonidine, probably by blocking central alpha 2-adrenoceptors. The sedative effect of propranolol can be potentiated by nifedipine possibly because of a pharmacokinetic interaction.