Chinese herbal medicine increases tissue oxygen tension.

An herbal medicine widely used in China, anisodamine, was investigated to determine its effect on the tissue PO2 of an important neural tissue, the retina. The anisodamine was injected intravenously over 10 min into anesthetized cats. Although it reduced mean blood pressure an average of 26%, anisodamine simultaneously increased tissue PO2 an average of 20%. It may therefore be useful in treating clinical conditions thought to be secondary to tissue hypoxia, such as diabetic retinopathy and sickle cell crises.