0000000000586136
AUTHOR
H. Pompetzki
Acetylcholine overflow during infusion of a high potassium-low sodium solution into the perfused chicken heart in the absence and presence of physostigmine.
1. The effect of infusion of a modified Tyrode's solution (“high K+-low Na+ solution”) into the isolated chicken heart on the content of acetylcholine in the tissue and the overflow of acetylcholine were compared to those evoked by vagal stimulation. 2. The release of acetylcholine was measured over 15-min periods of either stimulation of the vagus nerves (40 V, 1 ms) at 20 Hz or of infusion of the high K+-low Na+ solution (108 mM K+, 44 mM Na+). 3. Both stimuli caused a maximum overflow of acetylcholine in the first few minutes whether or not 10−6 M physostigmine was present. The overflow was maintained during the vagal stimulation at a constant rate of at least 35% the initial rate, where…
Acetylcholine overflow from isolated perfused hearts of various species in the absence of cholinesterase inhibition
1. The content of acetylcholine in the tissue and effluent of isolated hearts of various birds and mammals was determined in the absence of inhibition of cholinesterase. 2. Stimulation of both vagus nerves for 15 min at 20 Hz caused marked negative chronotropic effects in all species. Spontaneous or stimulation-induced overflow of acetylcholine into the effluents was not detected in mammals. In the avian heart, the order of spontaneous overflow was: duck = chicken > pigeon, whereas the order of evoked overflow was: chicken > pigeon > duck. The acetylcholine overflow from the cat heart was below the limit of estimation (3 pmol g−1 min−1). In the chicken heart, the evoked overflow per min (28…