The gastrointestinal and autonomic effects of 3-methyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinoline-8-thiocarboxamide hydrochloride (tiquinamide).

3-Methyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinoline-8-thiocarboxamide hydrochloride (tiquinamide), a potent gastric anti-secretory compound, affords good protection against stress- and chemically-induced gastric and duodenal erosions. It causes a dose-related delay in gastric emptying and intestinal transit, and does not have a primary effect on gastric mucosal blood flow. The only actions of tiquinamide on the peripheral autonomic nervous system are weak, but apparently specific, histamine H2-receptor blocking activity, and non-competitive inhibition of acetylcholine and histamine responses at 10(-3) mol/l. Since no other effect on isolated tissues can be detected, it seems unlikely that the antisecretory action of tiquinamide involves a direct action on the peripheral autonomic nervous system.