This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by COOPER, D. S. Articles by JACOBS, L. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by COOPER, D. S. Articles by JACOBS, L. S.

Failure of Papaverine to Alter L-Dopa-Influenced GH and PRL Secretion¹

Metabolism Division, Department of Medicine, Washington University St. Louis, Missouri 63110

Papaverine, 150 mg BID for 2 weeks, a dose which produced marked clinical impairment in Parkinsonian patients taking L-Dopa, failed to alter L-Dopa-stimulated GH secretion or L-Dopainhibited PRL secretion in 6 normal volunteers. Failure to demonstrate an inhibitory effect of papaverine on dopaminergic hypothalamic-pituitary systems, despite its inhibition of striatal dopaminergic pathways, may imply qualitative or quantitative functional differences between hypothalamic and striatal dopaminergic systems.

¹ Studies supported in part by research grant 5R01-AM05105, Diabetes Center Grant 5P30-AM17904, and -Research Career Development Award 5K04-AM70521 (LSJ) from the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, and by Clinical Research Center Grant RR00036 from the Division of Research Resources, General Clinical Research Centers Branch, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland.

Received August 10, 1976.