Reserpine lowers blood pressure by a mechanism fundamentally different from other sympatholytics. Its antihypertensive action results from:
- A Blockade of vesicular monoamine transporter, depleting norepinephrine stores in sympathetic nerve endings ✓
- B Competitive antagonism at vascular alpha-1 receptors
- C Stimulation of central alpha-2 autoreceptors reducing sympathetic outflow
- D Irreversible inhibition of dopamine beta-hydroxylase preventing norepinephrine synthesis
Explanation
Reserpine irreversibly blocks VMAT2, the vesicular monoamine transporter, so norepinephrine taken up into nerve terminals cannot be stored and is degraded by cytosolic MAO, leading to depletion of transmitter stores and reduced sympathetic transmission. Clonidine acts centrally on alpha-2 receptors, prazosin blocks vascular alpha-1 competitively and reversibly, and disulfiram-like dopamine beta-hydroxylase inhibition is not a clinically used antihypertensive mechanism.
Reference: Katzung's Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, 16th ed.
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