Testing diphenylethylamine compounds for analgesic action

Diphenylethylamine and compounds related to it have some of the pharmacological properties of morphine: they may depress the righting reflex in rats, raise the blood-sugar level in rabbits, and produce nausea, hyperexcitability and pupil dilatation in cats (Dodds, Lawson & Williams, 1943, 1944). If the compounds are to be of clinical value they must produce analgesia. Preliminary clinical trials of four of the compounds showed that two of them (diphenylethylamine and hydroxy-diphenylethylamine) relieved the pain of patients suffering from the pressure effects of secondary deposits in malignant disease. The present paper records an attempt to estimate the analgesic potency of the compounds, but no such action could be demonstrated by the methods adopted. TOLERANCE OF HEAT PAIN IN MAN