Ouabain enhances release of acetylcholine in the heart evoked by unilateral vagal stimulation.

The aim of the study was to elucidate peripheral effects of ouabain on the parasympathetic innervation of the heart, effects that could contribute to the experimentally and clinically well established “vagal effect of cardiac glycosides”. The experiments were carried out with ouabain concentrations of 3×10−7 and 10−6 mol/l, which were considered “therapeutic”, as they increased force of contraction and did not elicit arrhythmias in incubated chicken atria. In atrial preparations of chickens and guinea-pigs the negative chronotropic and inotropic effects of acetylcholine (ACh) were not altered by 3×10−7 mol/l ouabain. Resting efflux of ACh from perfused chicken hearts was increased by ouabai…