A comparison of the effects of chlorothiazide, quinethazone and placebo on student volunteers and on rats: a teaching exercise.

Medical student participation in a controlled doubleblind clinical bioassay provides an effective introduction to clinical pharmacology and perhaps the best stimulus to the future rational evaluation and use of drugs. In one such exercise, 27 volunteers were divided into three groups: one received 50 mg. quinethazone, one 500 mg. chlorothiazide and the third a lactose placebo. Urine was collected for three 90-minute periods, volume and pH being recorded; sodium and potassium were measured with a flame photometer, and chloride by the Volhard technique. Although this study was primarily a comparative bioassay of two established diuretics against a placebo, no previous direct comparisons of these diuretics could be found in the literature. The diuretic activity of chlorothiazide and quinethazone compared to placebo therapy was confirmed in both humans and rats, the use of controls was illustrated, and a higher mean sodium-potassium ratio for quinethazone than for chlorothiazide was demonstrated.