S. Kayaalp, E. Albuquerque, J. E. Warnick
Sep 1, 1970
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Influential Citations
22
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Journal
European journal of pharmacology
Abstract
Abstract Batrachotoxin (BTX), the purified active principle from the Colombian Arrow Poison Frog (Phyllobates aurotaenia), blocked transmission in the in situ rabbit superior cervical ganglion preparation when administered intraarterially in doses of 0.3 to 1.3 μg. The initial ganglionic potential was more susceptible to BTX depression than the late potential; the positive afterpotential was abolished and even reversed. At higher doses (1.0 μg or more), the poison caused a prolonged blockade of the ganglionic transmission; a partial recovery of only the late spike was observed within two hours following the administration of BTX. These actions of BTX on the ganglion were partly due to its effect on the impulse conduction in the preganglionic sympathetic nerve in which the poison differentially blocked the initial spake of the preganglionic antidromically evoked action potential. Both the failure of ganglionic transmission and of nerve conduction occuring after BTX were functions of the dose and frequency of stimulation. In most experiments during the blockade of the ganglionic transmission produced by BTX, the ganglion cells were responsive to the depolarizing agents, nicotine, acetylcholine and potassium chloride. The poison also produced a large variety of cardiac arrhythmias including A-V block, multifocal ventricular ectopic beats, ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation.