Antinauseant and antiemetic properties of bismuth subsalicylate in dogs and humans.

Laboratory and clinical investigations were carried out to determine the effectiveness of bismuth subsalicylate in allaying nausea by preventing the physical symptom of emesis. In normal conscious dogs, a bismuth subsalicylate formulation caused a dose-related reduction in the incidence of vomiting in response to an emetic dose of ipecac syrup. In normal human subjects, a bismuth subsalicylate suspension, unlike the placebo formulation, successfully subdued nausea and vomiting in 66.7 and 80% of the subjects, respectively, in response to ipecac syrup. Both findings demonstrate that bismuth subsalicylate can provide antiemetic action and that the decreases in the occurrence of emesis in humans and dogs parallels the decrease in nausea found in humans and the nausea suspected to occur prior to emesis in dogs.