indication

For the treatment of hypertension.

pharmacology

Cryptenamine is a mixture of closely related hypotensive alkaloids from Veratrum album (Liliaceae). It has been used in the treatment of hypertension but has largely been replaced by drugs with fewer adverse effects.

mechanism of action

Cryptenamine has a marked and re-producible depressor effect when given intravenously to hypertensive patients, however the mechanism of action is not known. Some evidence has suggested that cryptenamine acts in a similar fashion to atropine, which lowers the "rest and digest" activity of all muscles and glands regulated by the parasympathetic nervous system. This occurs because atropine is a competitive inhibitor of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter used by the parasympathetic nervous system). Therefore muscarinic acetylcholine receptors will be listed as experimental targets for cryptenamine.