The Effect of Naloxone and Cyproheptadine on Pulmonary Platelet Trapping, Hypotension, and Platelet Aggregability in Traumatized Dogs

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Abstract
Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a serious complication of trauma and sepsis. Naloxone, an opiate antagonist, and cyproheptadine, an antiserotonin drug, are effective in reducing pulmonary platelet trapping (PPT), which is thought to play an important role in the evolution of ARDS in endotoxin-shocked dogs. Endorphins are implicated as pathophysiologic factors in shock, and serotonin is a possible mediator of their action. Here, naloxone and cyproheptadine are shown to be equally effective in protecting against PPT in dogs subjected to trauma, and when naloxone is given before the trauma it also obviates the hypotension associated with trauma. Naloxone- and cyprohetadine-treated animals did not show the increased platelet aggregability usually seen in traumatized dogs.