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Pilocarpine
General information
Pilocarpine is an antagonist at acetylcholine receptors [ ]. While it is mainly used in the eye in the treatment of glaucoma, pilocarpine is occasionally used for other purposes, for example for treating salivary gland hypofunction and xerostomia [ ]. When used in this way, cardiovascular tolerance was good but there was a high incidence of sweating, flushing, increased frequency of micturition, increased nasal secretion, and lacrimation [ ].
Drug studies
Observational studies
In 36 patients with xerostomia who took pilocarpine 5 mg tds for at least 12 weeks, unless they had unacceptable adverse reactions, only 47% tolerated the therapy, and of 25 patients whose body weights were less than 65 kg, only 36% tolerated it [ ]. The most common adverse reaction was sweating (64%).
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