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Evaluation Of The Antagonism Of Nicotine By Mecamylamine And Pempidine In The Brain, Thomas Jeffrey Martin

Theses and Dissertations

Antagonists have been crucial in the characterization of nicotine's pharmacology. Initial evidence for the existence of central nicotinic receptors was based on the fact that nicotine produced a number of behavioral effects that were antagonized by ganglionic blockers that crossed the blood-brain barrier, such as mecamylamine and pempidine. Although the mechanism of action of these compounds has been studied extensively in the periphery, little is known about their mechanisms of action in the brain. These compounds are thought to be noncompetitive antagonists due to the fact that they do not compete for agonist binding to brain homogenate in vitro. However, …