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Biomedical subjects

B Collier

Publications and source records attributed to B Collier.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

The effect of preganglionic nerve stimulation on the accumulation of certain analogues of choline by a sympathetic ganglion.

1. Cat superior cervical ganglia were perfused with a Krebs solution containing 10(-6) M [3H]homocholine (2-hydroxypropyl-trimethylammonium) or 10(-5) M [14C]triethylcholine (2-hydroxyethyl-triethylammonium). Preganglionic nerve stimulation (20 Hz) increased the accumulation of homocholine (3-2-fold) and of triethylcholine (2-1-fold). This increased accumulation during stimulation was not the result of increased metabolism. 2. The increased accumulation of homocholine or triethylcholine induced by pregnaglionic nerve stimulation was not reduced by tubocurarine or by atropine, but it was blocked by choline and by hemicholinium. These results suggested that preganglionic nerve stimulation increased choline analogue accumulation into cholinergic nerve terminals. 3. The increased accumulation of homocholine or of triethylcholine induced by preganglionic nerve stimulation was reduced when the Ca2+ concentration was reduced and was abolished in the absence of Ca2+. However, changes in the Mg2+ concentration which depressed acetylcholine (ACh) release by amounts comparable to those induced by altered Ca2+ concentrations did not alter the uptake of homocholine or triethylcholine. It is concluded that the uptake of choline analogues is not regulated by transmitter release but that stimulation increases the uptake of the choline analogues by a Ca2+-dependent mechanism. 4. The accumulation of ACh by ganglia perfused with a Krebs solution containing choline and high MgSO4 (18 mM) was measured. The ACh content of these ganglia did not increase, although choline transport presumably exceeded that necessary for ACh synthesis to replace released ACh. It is concluded that choline transport does not limit ACh synthesis in ganglia.

Acetylcholine↗

Action of a beta-bungarotoxin on autonomic ganglia and adrenergic neurotransmission.

A beta-bungarotoxin was isolated from the venom of Bungarus multicinctus by column chromatography on Sephadex G-50 and SP-Sephadex. The toxin produced presynaptic effects on neuromuscular transmission with characteristics similar to those described by others. In a sympathetic ganglion, the toxin increased spontaneous acetylcholine (ACh) release and decreased ACh release evoked by preganglionic nerve stimulation. The toxin did not block the response of isolated ileum to cholinergic nerve stimulation, did not block the release of noradrenaline from the adrenergic nerve terminals of a nictitating membrane preparation, and did not alter the responses of smooth and cardiac muscle preparations to noradrenaline. It is suggested that the specificity of beta-bungarotoxin for certain nerve terminals is related either to selective binding of the toxin or to the selective presence of a necessary substrate for its action. An attempt to show selective binding of 125I-toxin to cholinergic nerve terminals in skeletal muscle was not successful.

Acetylcholine↗

The effects of neomycin upon transmitter release and action.

These experiments were designed to determine the site and mechanism of action of neomycin on cholinergic transmission. These agents depressed the response of rat diaphragm preparations to phrenic nerve stimulation and to injected acetylcholine (ACh); however, equi-effective neuromuscular blocking concentrations of neomycin (6 x 10(-4) M), streptomycin (1.2 x 10(-3) M) or d-tubocurarine (6.5 x 10(-7) M) reduced the muscle response to injected ACh to 54,27 and 15% of control, respectively, suggesting that neomycin and streptomycin have a presynaptic effect. This finding was confirmed by measuring ACh release from the diaphragm during phrenic nerve stimulation; neomycin (6x10(-4) M) and streptomycin (1.2 x 10(-4) M) depressed ACh release to 29 and 41% of control, respectively. In the cat superior cervical ganglion neomycin (2 x 10(-3) M) blocked ganglionic transmission, did not reduce the response of ganglion cells to injected nicotine and depressed ACh release during preganglionic nerve stimulation to 61% of control in normal Ca++ (2.5 mM) medium and to less than 10% of control in low Ca++ (0.5 mM) medium. The increased accululation of 45Ca induced in rat isolated ganglia by preganglionic nerve stimulation was not changed by d-tubocurarine (2 x 10(-4) M), but was abolished by neomycin (2 x10(-3) M). It is concluded that neomycin blocks ACh release by blocking the influx of Ca++ necessary for transmitter release. This conclusion suggested that neomycin should block noradrenaline release, and this was shown using the anococcygeus preparation from the rat.

Acetylcholine↗

The site of the neuromuscular block produced by polymyxin B and rolitetracycline.

The site of neuromuscular blockade induced by polymyxin B and rolitetracycline was studied on isolated nerve and nerve-muscle preparations. Polymyxin B (1.8 X 10(-4) M) was equipotent to lidocaine as a local anaesthetic on a frog desheathed nerve preparation, while rolitetracycline (up to 3.6 X 10(-3)M) had no local anaesthetic effect. Polymyxin B (6 X 10(-5) M) and rolitetracycline (7 X 10(-4) M) blocked by 50% the response of rat diaphragm induced by phrenic nerve stimulation, but did not decrease the amount of acetylcholine (ACh) released from this preparation during nerve stimulation. Both antibiotics depressed the response of the rat diaphragm to inject ACh, and this response was more sensitive to inhibition by the drugs than was the response to nerve stimulation. With rolitetracycline, a concentration that blocked the response to nerve stimulation by 50% inhibited the response to injected ACh by 85%, and this relationship was similar to that with d-tubocurarine; however, polymyxin B was relatively more effective than d-tubocurarine in inhibiting the effect of ACh. Polymyxin B (1-1.5 X 10(-4) M) but not rolitetracycline (1 X 10(-3) M) depressed the response of the diaphragm to direct muscle stimulation. It is concluded that polymyxin B and rolitetracycline block neuromuscular transmission predominatly by an effect to depress the muscle's sensitivity to ACh; polymyxin B probably acts by an effect similar to that of local anaesthetics, while rolitetracycline probably acts by an effect similar to that of d-tubocurarine.

Acetylcholine↗

Characterization of the neuromuscular block produced by clindamycin and lincomycin.

The site of neuromuscular blockade induced by clindamycin and lincomycin was studied on isolated nerve and nerve-muscle preparations. Clindamycin (3.6 X 10(-3) M) but not lincomycin (up to 1.5 X 10(-2) M) had a local anaesthetic effect on a frog desheathed nerve preparation. Clindamycin (8 X 10(-4) M) and lincomycin (4 X 10(-3) M) depressed the response of the rat diaphragm to nerve stimulation and to direct muscle stimulation in parallel. This indicated that the predominant neuromuscular blocking effect of these antibiotics was due to an effect on the muscle. Clindamycin was fivefold more potent than lincomycin in this effect, and the unionized form of both drugs was the active form. Lincomycin (4 X 10(-3) M) but not clindamycin (8 X 10(-4) M) also had some depressant effect on nerve-muscle transmission as indicated by the interaction of the effects of the antibiotics and d-tubocurarine. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the acute clinical toxicity of these antibiotics.

Animals↗

Studies upon the mechanism by which acetylcholine releases surplus acetylcholine in a sympathetic ganglion.

1. Acetylcholine (ACh) releases surplus ACh from the superior cervical ganglion of the cat and the experiments described in this paper tested whether this results from exchange of endogenous ACh with exogenous ACh; the experiments also attempted to characterize pharmacologically the mechanism of this action of ACh. 2. The surplus ACh in the ganglion was radioactively labelled by perfusion of the ganglion with [3H]-choline-Krebs solution containing diisopropylphosphofluoridate, and the release of surplus [3H]-ACh by [14C]-ACh injected close arterially to the ganglion measured. The amount of [3H]-ACh released by [14C]-ACh was 33 +/- 5 times greater than was the amount of [14C]-ACh accumulated by ganglia. The amount of exogenous ACh accumulated by ganglia that had first formed surplus ACh was not different from exogenous ACh accumulation by ganglia that had not formed surplus ACh. Thus, it is concluded that surplus ACh release by ACh is not the result of ACh exchange. 3. In other experiments, surplus [3H]-ACh was accumulated in ganglia exposed to physostigmine. Nicotine, pilocarpine or ACh released surplus ACh; the effect of both nicotine and ACh was blocked by hexamethonium; atropine blocked the effect of ACh but not that of nicotine. It is concluded that both nicotinic and muscarinic receptors can be involved in the release of surplus ACh by cholinomimetic agonists.

Acetylcholine↗

The effect of atropine upon acetylcholine release from cat superior cervical ganglia and rat cortical slices: measurement by a radio-enzymic method.

Atropine is known to increase the release of acetylcholine (ACh) from cerebral cortex, and the present experiments tested the effect of this drug upon ACh release in the superior cervical ganglion of the cat. The release of ACh was measured by a radio-enzymic method, which was shown to provide an estimate of the ACh content of samples collected from perfused ganglia that was similar (102%) to that obtained by the method of bioassay more usually used . Atropine (3 X 10(-6) M) increased (3.5 to 4-fold) the amount of ACh released by rat's sliced cerebral cortex incubated in a high (23 mM) potassium medium. However atropine (3 X 10(-6)-3 X 10(-5) M) did not change the amount of ACh released by ganglia during preganglionic nerve stimulation (5-10 Hz). It is concluded that cholinergic nerve terminals in different tissues appear to have different pharmacological properties.

Acetylcholine↗

Acetylcholine synthesis from recaptured choline by a sympathetic ganglion.

1. The recapture and re-use of choline formed by the hydrolysis of released acetylcholine (ACh) was studied in the superior cervical ganglion of the cat using radioactive tracer techniques. The ganglion's ACh store was labelled by perfusion, during preganglionic nerve stimulation, with Krebs solution containing [(3)H]choline.2. Preganglionic stimulation (5 Hz for 20 min) of ganglia containing [(3)H]ACh released similar amounts of radioactivity when perfusion was with neostigmine-choline-Krebs or with hemicholinium-Krebs. This indicated that neostigmine does not increase transmitter release.3. The amount of radioactivity collected from stimulated ganglia during perfusion with choline-Krebs was 39% of the amount of radioactivity collected during perfusion with medium containing neostigmine or hemi-cholinium. This difference in release was almost (85%) accounted for at the end of the experiment by extra radioactive ACh in the ganglia perfused with choline-Krebs. It is concluded that during preganglionic nerve stimulation approximately 50-60% of endogenously produced choline is recaptured for ACh synthesis; thus, during activity preganglionic nerve terminals appear selectively to accumulate choline.4. However, chronically decentralized ganglia accumulated as much choline as did acutely decentralized ganglia, and this was interpreted as indicating that at rest preganglionic nerve terminals do not selectively accumulate choline.5. Increased exogenous choline concentration increased the amount of radioactivity collected during nerve stimulation in the absence, but not the presence, of an anticholinesterase agent. The spontaneous efflux of radioactivity was little affected by changes in external choline levels. It is concluded that exogenous choline and choline made available from released transmitter compete for uptake into nerve terminals.

Acetylcholine↗