The hypertensive response to soman and its relation to brain acetylcholinesterase inhibition

Intravenous injection of soman in the rat produced a rapid and dose related increase in blood pressure. The dose response curve was very steep, threshold responses occurring after intravenous injection of 10 micrograms/kg, and maximum increases of about 50 mmHg occurring after 40 micrograms/kg. Heart rate also generally increased. An increase in blood pressure also followed injection of soman subcutaneously, intramuscularly, intraperitoneally and into the cerebral ventricles, although the onset was slower and higher doses were required. The magnitude of the pressor response was correlated with the degree of AChE activity in the cortex, hypothalamus and brain stem, but not in the striatum. The pressor response was aborted or prevented by atropine, but not by methylatropine. It also was prevented by phenoxybenzamine. Atropine increased survival following an LD50 dose of soman; phenoxybenzamine prevented the pressor response but did not alter the survival rate.