Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Pharmacology logoLink to British Journal of Pharmacology
. 1970 Jul;39(3):608–618. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1970.tb10368.x

The effects of papaverine on the electrical and mechanical activity of the guinea-pig taenia coli

N Tashiro, T Tomita
PMCID: PMC1702605  PMID: 5472207

Abstract

1. Effects of papaverine (5 × 10-6-5 × 10-5M) were studied on the spontaneous and evoked electrical and mechanical activity of the guinea-pig taenia coli. In normal Locke solution, papaverine slowed and finally stopped the spontaneous spike discharge, usually with a small hyperpolarization of a few mV.

2. Papaverine did not change the membrane resistance in normal Locke solution. It abolished the repetitive firing of spikes during the depolarization in response to a current pulse, but a single spike of normal amplitude could always be evoked.

3. The mechanical response elicited by a single spike was reduced by papaverine in normal Locke solution. During the maintained depolarization produced by a long current pulse the tonic component of the contraction was more reduced than the phasic component related to the initial spike activity.

4. The effects of papaverine were essentially the same as in normal Locke solution when NaCl was replaced with LiCl, or in excess K (24 mM), except that the membrane resistance was increased by papaverine in the presence of excess K.

5. Excess Ca (6 mM) antagonized the effect of papaverine on the mechanical response, but not on the electrical response. When the muscle was depolarized in Ca-free solution, papaverine caused repolarization of the membrane and electrical activity reappeared. This effect was similar to that of Mg (4 mM).

6. The mechanism by which papaverine suppresses the spontaneous spike activity is discussed and is compared with that of isoprenaline, from which it appears to differ. The observations indicate that papaverine, like Mg, may bind with a site at the membrane with which Ca normally binds, thereby modifying the electrical and mechanical activity controlled by Ca.

Full text

PDF
608

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. AXELSSON J., BULBRING E. Metabolic factors affecting the electrical activity of intestinal smooth muscle. J Physiol. 1961 Apr;156:344–356. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1961.sp006680. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. AXELSSON J. Dissociation of electrical and mechanical activity in smooth muscle. J Physiol. 1961 Sep;158:381–398. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1961.sp006775. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. AXELSSON J., HOEGBERG S. G., TIMMS A. R. THE EFFECT OF REMOVING AND READMITTING GLUCOSE ON THE ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ACTIVITY AND GLUCOSE AND GLYCOGEN CONTENT OF INTESTINAL SMOOTH MUSCLE FROM THE TAENIA COLI OF THE GUINEA PIG. Acta Physiol Scand. 1965 May-Jun;64:28–42. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1965.tb04151.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Abe Y., Tomita T. Cable properties of smooth muscle. J Physiol. 1968 May;196(1):87–100. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1968.sp008496. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. BORN G. V. The relation between the tension and the high-energy phosphate content of smooth muscle. J Physiol. 1956 Mar 28;131(3):704–711. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1956.sp005495. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. BULBRING E., KURIYAMA H. Effects of changes in the external sodium and calcium concentrations on spontaneous electrical activity in smooth muscle of guinea-pig taenia coli. J Physiol. 1963 Apr;166:29–58. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1963.sp007089. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Brading A., Bülbring E., Tomita T. The effect of sodium and calcium on the action potential of the smooth muscle of the guinea-pig taenia coli. J Physiol. 1969 Feb;200(3):637–654. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008713. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Brading A., Bülbring E., Tomita T. The effect of temperature on the membrane conductance of the smooth muscle of the guinea-pig taenia coli. J Physiol. 1969 Feb;200(3):621–635. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008712. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Bülbring E., Tomita T. Increase of membrane conductance by adrenaline in the smooth muscle of guinea-pig taenia coli. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1969 Mar 11;172(1027):89–102. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1969.0013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Bülbring E., Tomita T. Suppression of spontaneous spike generation by catecholamines in the smooth muscle of the guinea-pig taenia coli. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1969 Mar 11;172(1027):103–119. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1969.0014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Diamond J., Marshall J. M. Smooth muscle relaxants: dissociation between resting membrane potential and resting tension in rat myometrium. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1969 Jul;168(1):13–20. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Ferrari M., Carpenedo F. On the mechanism of action of some myolytic agents on depolarized guinea pig taenia coli. Arch Int Pharmacodyn Ther. 1968 Jul;174(1):223–232. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Imai S., Takeda K. Effect of vasodilators upon the isolated taenia coli of the guinea pig. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1967 Jun;156(3):557–564. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kuriyama H., Tomita T. The action potential in the smooth muscle of the guinea pig taenia coli and ureter studied by the double sucrose-gap method. J Gen Physiol. 1970 Feb;55(2):147–162. doi: 10.1085/jgp.55.2.147. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. PFAFFMAN M., URAKAWA N., HOLLAND W. C. ROLE OF METABOLISM IN K-INDUCED TENSION CHANGES IN GUINEA PIG TAENIA COLI. Am J Physiol. 1965 Jun;208:1203–1205. doi: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1965.208.6.1203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. SANTI R., FERRARI M., CONTESSA A. R. ON THE MECHANISM OF SPASMOLYTIC EFFECT OF PAPAVERINE AND CERTAIN DERIVATIVES. Biochem Pharmacol. 1964 Feb;13:153–158. doi: 10.1016/0006-2952(64)90132-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Pharmacology are provided here courtesy of The British Pharmacological Society

RESOURCES