Talk:Atropine

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Contents 1 Hyoscyamine 2 Atropine time of effectiveness 3 So what's the opposite of Atropine? 4 Incorrect or not? 5 Half life 6 Official Indication of Atropine 7 Cleopatra 8 Muscle Spasm

[edit] Hyoscyamine

I removed this:

It is a racemic mixture of d- and l-hyocyamine.

First, I believe the word is hyoscyamine. Also, I believe hyoscyamine is an alkaloid different from atropine, both being derived from belladonna. AxelBoldt 20:17 Dec 15, 2002 (UTC)

Hyoscyamine comes in two optical isomers (D and L). When people say hyoscyamine they are usually refering to L-hyoscyamine, when people say atropine they are refering to a (racemic) mixture of both D- and L-hyoscyamine. Chemically, atropine and hyoscyamine are the same. Physiologically, most of atropine's effects can be attributed to L-hyoscyamine.Matt 00:38, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Putting hyoscyamine back, because it is an important information. --Mykhal 16:00, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Atropine time of effectiveness

How does the "effect of atropine [to dilate the pupils] last two or three days" while it's half-life in the body is 2 hours? Is that due to the time it takes to dissociate from the ACh receptors? (version as of 2006 Aug 30, 0600 UTC)

[edit] So what's the opposite of Atropine?

If Atropine is used by eye doctors to dilate the pupils, then what do they use to constrict the pupils?

This is not really necessary. Pilocarpine would antagonise the anticholinergic effects, but atropine lasts much longer; this is why tropicamide is preferred over atropine. JFW | T@lk 16:26, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

Dapiprazole (e.g. Rev-Eyes) is sometimes used to counteract the effects of pupillary dilation to improve visual comfort (i.e. make it easier to drive home after the eye exam). I agree that topical atropine is not preferred as a mydriatic, but it is preferred over tropicamide for other indications. Edwardian 17:57, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Incorrect or not?

I just happened to notice that the "elimination halflife listed" on the side of this Wikipedia page says "2 hours." However, the body of the article states "Atropine degrades slowly, typically wearing off in 2 to 3 days." Is this correct?

[edit] Half life

A half life and degradation time are not the same. Something with a half life of two hours, in the quantity given that wouldn't kill you, would take about two days to fully wear off. The effects would still be present, if rather reduced, during this time.

[edit] Official Indication of Atropine

Isn't the official indication for Atropine anesthetic induction/premedication for surgery? StudentNurse 05:04, 25 February 2006 (UTC).

I'm not a doctor or anything, but I would assume it would be pre-medication for surgery because of it's ability to dry secretions, namely sweat. However, surgeons generally use glycopyrrolate (Robinul, an anticholingeric just like atropine) as pre-medication for secretions. It's their medication of choice because it doesn't cross the blood brain barrier as easily as atropine does. Hope this helps. - Russ

In the old days atropine is used as a premed to produce sedation AND to dry up the secretion. But today in most cases it is used in surgery (by anaesthetists, not surgeons) to treat reflex-mediated bradycardia or used in combination with anticholinesterases (the combination is used at the end of a case to speed up recovery from muscle relaxants). I doubt it is used to dry up sweat though. BTW, atropine is also routinely used by some anaesthetists when doing a rapid sequence induction in paediatric cases. It is to counteract the bradycardic effect of suxamethonium (succinylcholine) which can be very pronounced in the paediatric population. Ld99 12:57, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cleopatra

The history section says:

Atropine extracts from the Egyptian henbane were used by Cleopatra in the last century B.C. to dilate her pupils, in the hope that she would appear more alluring.

Perhaps a source could be provided or the line deleted. Eric 19:33, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Atropine, when you get it in a bottle, isn't pure atropine, is it? I think it's worth noting, say, whether it's just plain atropine, or maybe atropine methylnitrate in an aqueous vehicle.

Or maybe it's sold differently between human and veterinary medical markets, I don't know. Still worth noting. Where do you look for this kind of stuff? (Other than Wikipedia.)

I'm sure atropine sulfate is used as a nerve agent antidote. cyclosarin 08:43, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Muscle Spasm

Is Atropine likely to cause muscle spasms when used on small animals? I know this is not a forum, but this is the only font of information I trust. Thank yous Leo McAllister 16:48, 26 November 2006 (UTC)