Fig. 1.

Guinea pig tracheal ring muscle force generated in response to cholinergic electrical field stimulation (EFS). a Following stable EFS-induced contractions, 100 μM of dexmedetomidine, 10 μM remifentanil or 1 mM lidocaine or vehicle (0.1% DMSO) were added to buffer solution. Dexmedetomidine and lidocaine inhibited EFS-induced contractions. b, c Dexmedetomidine attenuates guinea pig tracheal ring muscle force generated in response to cholinergic EFS contraction. Representative trace of EFS-induced muscle force over time with increasing concentrations of dexmedetomidine (b) and expressed as percent change from the initial baseline EFS-induced contraction (c). Control tracheal rings treated with the vehicle DMSO (0.1%) serves as a time control. Mean ± SEM (n = 4). *p < 0.05