Antidiarrheal Effects of Dihydroergotamine

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Abstract
Dihydroergotamine (DHE), an .alpha.-adrenergic blocking agent, rapidly improved 121 of 123 diarrheal patients. A hypotonic sigmoid and a hyperreactive rectum were found in these patients. Manometric studies of the distal colon showed that DHE counteracts the rectal hyperactivity and increases sigmoidal tone. Anticholinergic drugs and/or emotional stimuli accentuate the recetal hyperactivity of diarrheal patients. Both features could be due to an unbalanced neurologic control of the gastrointestinal tract with dominance of the .alpha.-adrenergic over the cholinergic activity. Diphenoxylate (DPO) suppressed the diarrhea in 2 patients not improved by DHE. DPO reinforced the therapeutic success of DHE in 11 lactose intolerance diarrheal patients, suggesting that the 2 drugs exert their effects by means of different mechanisms.