Scopolamine, also known as hyoscine, or Devil's Breath, is a medication used to treat motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting. It is also sometimes used before surgery to decrease saliva. When used by injection, effects begin after about 20 minutes, with onset of central anticholinergic effects within that time window and peak plasma levels typically reached within one to two hours; transdermal formulations produce slower absorption with clinically useful levels maintained for up to 72 hours. Scopolamine is a tertiary amine tropane alkaloid that crosses the blood brain barrier and acts primarily as a competitive antagonist at muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, especially M1 receptors in the vestibular nuclei and the brainstem vomiting center, producing antiemetic and anti-motion-sickness effects while also producing peripheral antimuscarinic effects such as reduced salivation, mydriasis, and tachycardia. It is administered in multiple pharmaceutical forms including parenteral salts, oral tablets in some jurisdictions, and transdermal patches; it undergoes hepatic metabolism and renal excretion, and clinicians monitor for anticholinergic side effects and interactions with other central nervous system depressants and medications with antimuscarinic activity.
Parent: Scopolamine
Parent: Scopolamine
In pharmaceutical quality control the active pharmaceutical ingredient and finished products for scopolamine are characterized for related alkaloid impurities and degradation products. Typical specification ranges used by manufacturers and compendial monographs often limit individual known related compounds such as hyoscyamine and atropine to approximately 0.1 to 0.5 percent by weight each, control oxidation or N-oxide products and other degradants such as scopolamine N-oxide at about 0.05 to 0.3 percent, and set a combined total impurities limit commonly at or below about 1.0 percent; unspecified impurities are generally held to lower thresholds depending on toxicology and regulatory guidance. Actual limits vary by manufacturer, salt form, and pharmacopeial monograph, so batch-specific certificates of analysis and stability data should be consulted for precise impurity levels.
Scopolamine is used primarily to prevent and treat motion sickness and to prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting; it is also used preoperatively to reduce salivation and airway secretions and in some formulations for other anticholinergic indications as prescribed by a clinician.
Scopolamine blocks central muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, reducing cholinergic transmission in vestibular pathways and brainstem centers that mediate nausea and vomiting; this blockade can cause sedation, short-term memory impairment, confusion, and other anticholinergic central nervous system effects at higher doses.
Yes, scopolamine is still used clinically today in appropriate formulations and dosing regimens for motion sickness, postoperative nausea and vomiting prevention, and preoperative antisialagogue effect, although its use is guided by contraindications such as narrow-angle glaucoma and by consideration of anticholinergic side effects.
No, scopolamine is not the same as Buscopan; Buscopan is a brand name for hyoscine butylbromide, a quaternary ammonium derivative of hyoscine with lower central nervous system penetration and primarily used as an antispasmodic for gastrointestinal and urinary tract smooth muscle, whereas scopolamine is a tertiary amine with significant central anticholinergic activity.
