RESERPINE

antihypertensive and tranquilizing drug derived from the roots of certain species of Rauwolfia, tropical and semitropical plants. The powdered whole root of Rauwolfia serpentina has been used for centuries in India for tranquilizing the mentally disturbed. Reserpine, isolated in 1952, was the first of many Rauwolfia alkaloids found in the crude drug. Use of the powdered root in Western medicine began in 1953. The drug produces profound and prolonged tranquilizing action. Once used as a central-nervous-system depressant in treating psychoses, reserpine has been replaced in psychiatric therapy by the phenothiazines (such as chlorpromazine). Reserpine remains of value in treating hypertension (high blood pressure), in which low doses are effective.