Antimicrobial potentiality of a phenothiazine group of antipsychotic drug-prochlorperazine.

The antipsychotic drug, prochlorperazine (Pcp), was tested for its antimicrobial efficacy against 103 strains belonging to both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The drug was found to possess maximum activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae and Shigella spp. Pcp was moderately active against E. coli but most of the strains belonging to Bacillus spp, Klebsiella spp, Salmonella spp and Lactobacillus spp were found to be resistant to this drug. The drug was tested for its mode of antibacterial activity against Shigella dysenteriae 1 and it was found to be bacteriostatic in action. In in vivo studies, Pcp offered significant protection to Swiss albino mice at concentrations of 0.75 micro g/g (P < 0.01) and 1.5 microg/g (P < 0.001) body weight when challenged with 50 median lethal dose of Salmonella typhimurium NCTC 74. Thus the result depicts that prochlorperazine may emerge as a strong antimicrobial drug to replace the conventional antibiotics and to overcome the problem of drug resistance.

Effects of tranquillising, antidepressant and central nervous system stimulant drugs on the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) level of rat brain.

The level of y-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was determined in the brain of rats 1 hr. after i.p. injection of chlorpromazine, prochlorperazine, diazepam, trimipramine, methamphetamine and nikethamide. Diazepam increased, and, trimipramine and amphetamine decreased the brain GABA level over wide dose ranges. Low doses of chlorpromazine and prochlorperazine increased but high doses of the drugs reduced the GABA level. Low doses of nikethamide reduced whereas high doses increased the level of GABA. The effects of the drugs have been discussed in relation to the brain GABA level.