EXPERIMENTS ON THE ROLE OF POTASSIUM IN THE BLOCKING OF NEUROMUSCULAR TRANSMISSION BY CURARE AND OTHER DRUGS

Abstract

1. Experiments with perfused frog muscles and with isolated frog muscles immersed in Ringer's solution have failed to show any effect of curare in liberating potassium from muscle tissue. This makes it difficult to suppose that the paralytic effect of curare can be attributed to cation exchange between curare and K whereby a labile potassium compound needed for stimulation is removed from the neuromuscular junction. 2. Similar negative results were obtained with dihydro-ß-erythroidine and myanesin. 3. A small liberation of K from perfused muscle does result from treatment with acetylcholine. This is probably due to the contracture of the muscle since the effect is largely eliminated by previous treatment of the muscle with curare. The amount of potassium lost in this way from perfused muscles is too small to detect when muscles are analyzed after immersion in Ringer's solution with and without acetylcholine. It is concluded that there is no significant cation exchange between acetylcholine and K in muscle, but only a small loss of K due to the contracture produced by the acetylcholine.