The Effect of Convulsive Therapy on Plasma Adrenaline and Noradrenaline

Abstract

It is generally assumed that an activation of the sympathetic system plays an important part in the therapeutic efficacy of convulsive treatments, be it as an unspecific result of stress or owing to a more circumscribed stimulation of specific centres in the hypothalamus and elsewhere. Such an effect has been postulated on the basis of various changes observed after convulsions, such as a rise in blood pressure (Accornero, 1940; Bini and Puddu, 1940; Piette, 1950), hyperglycaemia (Castelluci, 1940; Kessler and Gellhorn, 1941), leucocytosis and lymphocytosis (Gellhorn and Frank, 1948, 1949; Michael, 1949) and eosinopenia (Altschule, Parkhurst and Tillotson, 1949). Pupillary dilatation and contraction of the nictitating membrane have been described in cats (Gellhorn and Darrow, 1939). More direct evidence is provided by the finding that the adrenaline stores of the adrenal medulla are decreased after electrically produced convulsions (Pekkarinen, Hakala and Hyppönen, 1952).