Premium
Comparison of effects of acetylcholine on electromechanical characteristics in guinea‐pig atrium and ventricle
Author(s) -
Zang W. J.,
Chen L. N.,
Yu X. J.,
Fang P.,
Lu J.,
Sun Q.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
experimental physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.925
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1469-445X
pISSN - 0958-0670
DOI - 10.1113/expphysiol.2004.027888
Subject(s) - acetylcholine , ventricle , inotrope , medicine , atrium (architecture) , contraction (grammar) , guinea pig , chronotropic , cardiology , myocyte , electrophysiology , cardiac ventricle , endocrinology , chemistry , atrial fibrillation , heart rate , blood pressure
The direct negative effects of acetylcholine (ACh) on guinea‐pig atria and ventricles were investigated using standard microelectrodes, a force transducer and a video edge‐detection system. It was found that: (1) ACh (at 0.001–100 μ m ) decreased the force of contraction and shortened the action potential duration (APD) in both atria and ventricles in a concentration‐dependent manner, and that the atria were more sensitive to ACh than the ventricles; and (2) the direct negative inotropic effect of ACh (1 μ m ) on an isolated cardiac cell was similar to that on the isolated myocardium. But this effect was not present in all isolated ventricular cells, while all the atrial cells responded to ACh. In conclusion, ACh had direct inhibitory effects on both atrial and ventricular tissue and myocytes, although the effects were greater in atria than in ventricles; and the negative inotropic effect of ACh was closely related to the shortening of the APD.