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Circulation, Vol 71, 797-804, Copyright © 1985 by American Heart Association

ARTICLES

The long-term increase of baseline and reflexly augmented levels of human vagal-cardiac nervous activity induced by scopolamine

ME Dibner-Dunlap, DL Eckberg, NM Magid and NM Cintron-Trevino

We tested the hypothesis that transdermal scopolamine increases vagal- cardiac nervous outflow over the long term in 16 healthy young men. Twenty-four hours after application of one scopolamine patch, the average RR interval was increased by 13% and the average standard deviation of the RR interval (taken as an index of the level of vagal- cardiac nervous activity) was increased by 31%. Baroreceptor-cardiac reflex responsiveness (as reflected by prolongation of RR interval provoked by graded neck suction) also was increased substantially. These findings suggest that vagal-cardiac nervous activity can be augmented pharmacologically in man on a long-term basis. Since vagal outflow influences cardiac electrical properties in an important way, these findings may have therapeutic implications.

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