The Treatment of Post-Encephalitig Parkinsonism by Nicotine

Abstract

JUNE 26, I926] INICOTINE IN POST-ENCEPHALITIC PARKINSONISM. M J 1079The chemical character of the base may be an important factor; lard and wool-fat are both esters and both absorb well, the absorption increasing on continued rubbing, so that probably part at least of the absorption takes place through the sebaceous glands. Possibly the difference between them in the absdrption of medicament may be due to the glyceryl esters of the lard, which may assist the secretions of the glands t-o form oleates or other easily absorbed compounds; the oleate, as shown above, is itself easily absorbed. The cholesteryl esters of the wool-fat may not form similar compounds. It has been generally assumed that the wool-fat would be the better base for absorbent ointments because it approximates more nearly to the natural fats of the skin; though this may be an important-factor in the absorption of the wool-fat itself, it evidently does not aid the absorption of the mercurial zuedicament.Paraffin composed of hydrocarbons and comparatively inert chemically is not likely to form compounds with the sebaceous secretions; it has not much power of penetrating the skin, and possibly that which is absorbed may be taken up by the epidermal layers; the fact that absorption does not increase with increased rubbing seems to point to this possibility.One factor undoubtedly influencing the amount of absorption by the skin is the temperature; it was always found that rubbings done in very cold weather gave less absorption than usual. This may be partly due to the increased vascularity of the skin at the higher temperature, and partly to the higher temperature making the ointment softer and more easily rubbed into the skin. That the latter is not the only explanation is shown by the fact that rubbings taken on an exceptionally hot day in July, 1923, gave figures slightly below the average-namely, 10 per cent. for a lard and 5.5 per cent. for a paraffin base. Possibly the moist condition of the skin from perspiration on that day had an adverse influence on absorption.An attempt was made to compare the amount of absorptioni through the skin of the palm, which contains no sebaceous glands but many sweat glands, with the amount absorbed through an equal area-on the arm. The rubbings weire carried out on the palm and the arm on the same day, aind tlhe same mercurial ointment with a lard base was used.The total absorption through the palm was 4.3 per cent., and through the arm 7.3 per cent.; the amount of mercury absorbed in the palm was 0.8, and through the arm 1.8; the lessenedl absorption through the palm may bo due either to the greater thickness of the epidermis or to the absence of sebaceous glands, or more probably to both of these factors. CONCLUSIONS. 1. Under the conditions of these experiments it wasfound that when rubbed into the skin all mercurials were absorbed to some extent from all the bases tested.2. That in all cases tho greatest absorption took place froiii the lard basis, and that the amount of absorption with tho lard basis increa...

Electrophysiological actions of nicotine on substantia nigra single units

“…An excitatory nicotinic action of SNC neurones may be clinically relevant, since nicotine has been found to alleviate the immobility associated with Parkinson's disease (Moll, 1926), a condition that is associated with degeneration of the ascending dopamine pathways. This stimulant action of nicotine may bear directly on the epidemiological observation that Parkinsonism is less prevalent among tobacco smokers than among non-smokers (Kessler, 1973 (Domino, 1973 (Henningfield & Goldberg, 1983) as well as by rats (Cox et al, 1984 (Miller et al, 1983), and low doses of nicotine commonly increase behavioural and electrocortical indices of arousal (Domino, 1973, Clarke & Kumar, 1983a.…”

Effect of acute nicotine administration on striatal dopamine output and metabolism in rats kept at different ambient temperatures

“…The temperature-dependency of nicotine-DA interactions in the striatum as well as our ®ndings that more than one kind of nicotinic AChR might mediate nicotine's eects on striatal DA are of importance considering attempts to develop nicotine analogues to treat neurodegenerative disorders, for example Parkinson's disease (Holladay et al, 1997). Already in the 1920s, nicotine was found to alleviate the immobility associated with postencephalitic parkinsonism (Moll, 1926). Further, in epidemiological studies, a negative association between parkinsonism and cigarette smoking has been consistently found (Kessler, 1973;Baron, 1986).…”

Differential effects of acute and chronic nicotine treatment on MPTP-(1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) induced degeneration of nigrostriatal dopamine neurons in the black mouse

“…It is also of interest that nicotine was tested in an early study for the treatment of postencephalitic parkinsonism (Moll 1926). The demonstration of protective actions of (-)nicotine against mechanically induced degeneration of the mesostriatal dopamine (DA) system in the male Sprague-Dawley rat (Janson et al 1986(Janson et al , 1988aFuxe et al 1990) suggests that nicotine may be involved in establishing this negative correlation.…”