Cardiac and vascular effects of elliptinium in guinea pigs. Involvement of a histaminergic mechanism.

This work reports a study of the effects of elliptinium on heart rate, arterial blood pressure and capillary permeability in guinea-pigs. The variations in capillary permeability are determined by spectrophotometric assay of skin Evans blue. Elliptinium induces dose-independent tachycardia and dose-related hypotension. For the highest dose (6 mg/kg), elliptinium induces lethal collapse . Elliptinium increases capillary permeability and this effect, particularly marked at 1 mg, i.d., is partially antagonized by mepyramine-cimetidine association. These results are discussed in comparison with those obtained with elliptinium on other parameters, with histamine and with different antitumoral agents. The increase in capillary permeability raises the question of its relevance to the anticancer activity of elliptinium.