EFFECT OF NICOTINE ON SERUM POTASSIUM AND BLOOD GLUCOSE

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Abstract
Intravenous administration of nicotine caused a transient increase in plasmaKlevelwhichhadpeakat60to90seconds and returned to the control level in 5 to 8 minutes in nembutal anesthetized dogs. The changes in serum potassium and blood glucose were proportional to the dose of nicotine. The hyperkalemia and hypergly-cemia induced by 100 [mu]g/kg of nicotine were almost completely inhibited by 3 mg/kg of hexamethonium. The pretreatment with atropine (2 mg/kg) slightly inhibited the hyperkalemic response but not the hyperglycemic response to nicotine. In adrenalectomized dogs, the nicotine hyperkalemia was markedly less than in the normal, and disappeared with 2 mg/kg of atropine. The hyperkalemic response to 100 [mu]g/kg of nicotine was a little greater than that of 2.5 [mu]g/kg of adrenaline. Atropine abolished this difference of responses between to nicotine and to adrenaline. These results indicate that nicotine hyperkalemia is mainly mediated through a release of epinephrine from the adrenal gland and partially through the contraction of smooth muscle.

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