Action of antihypertensive drugs in the central nervous system

Several major antihypertensive agents appear to act by stimulating alpha receptors in the central nervous system. Other agents which lower blood pressure by peripheral mechanisms also have important central effects. Recent studies suggest that by enhancing norepinephrine turnover in the brain one can obtain a reduction in blood pressure in experimental animals. We have studied the enhancement of central norepinephrine turnover by tyrosine administration and by the antihypertensive agent Prazosin.