Chronic Bronchitis and Asthma

Atropine has been administered parenterally and by inhalation to prevent and curtail asthmatic attacks. Gold and associates showed that procedures decreasing vagal stimulation, including intravenous or aerosol treatment with atropine, could prevent increases in airway resistance caused by several different antigens in dogs. Pretreatment of asthmatic patients with atropine can block their shortterm response to methacholine and certain antigens. Intravenous administration of atropine to dogs prevented bronchospasm induced by intravenous or aerosol administration of serotonin

Ipratropium bromide (N-isopropyl-notropine-tropic acid ester methylbromide), also known as Sch 1000, is an atropine-like agent which has been developed as an aerosol bronchodilator drug. This compound is believed to produce bronchodilata-tion by inhibiting increases in levels of cyclic guano-sine monophosphate mediated by cholinergic receptors, as contrasted with the action of adrenergic receptor stimulants in raising levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate . Previous investigations have shown effective bronchodilation by ipratropium in asthmatic patients. This study was undertaken to establish