The pharmacology of an insect ganglion: actions of carbamylcholine and acetylcholine

1976 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
D. B. Sattelle ◽  
A. S. McClay ◽  
R. J. Dowson ◽  
J. J. Callec

1. Methods for presenting dose-response data for the ganglionic actions of cholinergic agonists (e.g. carbamylcholine) are compared, using the mannitol-gap technique for electrophysiological recording of synaptic events at the cercal nerve, giant fibre synapse of the sixth abdominal ganglion of the cockroach Periplaneta americana. 2. At concentrations around 10(−5)M, carbamylcholine has no effect on ganglionic polarization but potentiates the monosynaptic EPSP. At 10(−4)M and higher concentrations, ganglionic depolarization is accompanied by a reduction of EPSP. 3. Pretreatment with eserine (10(−6) M) considerably shifts the dose-response curve for acetylcholine so that synaptic transmission is consistently sensitive to 10(−6) M acetylcholine.

1973 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 725-738
Author(s):  
J. J. CALLEC ◽  
D. B. SATTELLE

1. A simple electrophysiological method for the pharmacological investigation of synaptic transmission in insects is described. 2. By means of this technique synaptic potentials and ganglionic polarization can be recorded from the sixth abdominal ganglion of Periplaneta americana L. for long periods. 3. In the absence of stimulation, spontaneous excitatory (EPSP) and inhibitory (IPSP) postsynaptic potentials can be recorded. The mechanical stimulation of cercal receptors demonstrates the summation of EPSPs leading to spike generation. 4. Electrical stimulation of the cercal nerves (X, XI) enables the recording of a monosynaptic EPSP (XI) and a bisynaptic IPSP (X). 5. The action of acetylcholine on synaptic transmission, including a dose-response curve, is described. 6. The potential of this technique as a tool in pharmacological research is discussed.


1983 ◽  
Vol 218 (1211) ◽  
pp. 241-251 ◽  

At the frog neuromuscular junction, a dose-response curve for the activation of the nicotinic receptor by carbachol has been determined under conditions where desensitization could be estimated and corrected for. The value of the Hill coefficient was 2 and that of the dissociation constant for carbachol was 400 μm, the two binding sites of the receptor being assumed identical. The properties of six cholinergic agonists were then compared. The potencies and mean open times of these agonists are ranked in the same order, but the range of the potencies is much larger (1–200) than that of the mean open times (1-4). The differences in the properties of the different agonists could simply be due to differences in the rate of dissociation of the agonist, if it is assumed that one apparent opening of the channel is in fact a burst of several oscillations between the open and closed conformations, such that a burst is interrupted by the dissociation of one agonist molecule.


1976 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-527
Author(s):  
B. Hue ◽  
M. Pelhate ◽  
J. J. Callec ◽  
J. Chanelet

1. Study was made of the action of 4-aminopyridine (5 X 10(−5) M) on synaptic transmission in the last abdominal ganglion of Periplaneta americana. The ‘oil-gap’ technique was used to record postsynaptic events in a single giant axon. 2. 4-AP quickly increased the ‘background’ of postsynaptic activity, which consisted of ‘spontaneous’ unitary EPSPs and IPSPs. Postsynaptic spikes were also propagated. 3. Both evoked EPSPs (stimulation of cercal nerve XI) and evoked IPSPs (stimulation of cercal nerve X) were greatly increased in amplitude although their duration (half-time) was unaltered. 4. 4-AP triggered presynaptic action potentials in the cercal nerves (recorded with external electrodes). These ‘antidromic’ potentials appeared singly or sometimes repetitively, especially after electrical stimulation of the cercal nerves. They were often in monosynaptic correlation with unitary EPSPs. 5. Neither the resting potential nor the postsynaptic membrane resistance was modified. 6. There were no changes in the equilibrium potentials of the ions involved in postsynaptic events. 7. The results may be essentially explained by an increase in transmitter release after 4-AP treatment, which may be partly the result of a rise in presynaptic terminal excitability, and partly the result of a lengthening of the presynaptic action potentials.


1991 ◽  
Vol 65 (02) ◽  
pp. 160-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Poggio ◽  
Armando Tripodi ◽  
Guglielmo Mariani ◽  
Pier Mannuccio Mannucci ◽  

SummaryBeing a putative predictor of ischemic heart disease, the measurement of factor VII (FVTI) coagulant activity will be presumably requested to clinical laboratories with increasing frequency. To assess the influence on FVII assays of different thromboplastins and FVII-deficient plasmas we compared performances of all possible combinations of 5 thromboplastins and 6 deficient plasmas. The reproducibility of the clotting times of the dose-response curves for human and rabbit thromboplastins were acceptable (CV lower than 7%), whereas bovine thromboplastin had a higher CV. Reproducibility was very similar for all deficient plasmas when they were used in combination with a given thromboplastin. Responsiveness of the dose-response curve did not depend on the deficient plasma but rather on the thromboplastin: one rabbit thromboplastin was the least responsive, the bovine thromboplastin the most responsive, the human and the remaining two rabbit thromboplastins had intermediate responsiveness. Assay sensitivity to cold-activated FVII varied according to the thromboplastin: the bovine thromboplastin was the most sensitive, the human thromboplastin the least sensitive, of the three rabbit thromboplastins two were relatively sensitive, one was almost insensitive. In conclusion, our results indicate that thromboplastin rather than deficient plasma is the crucial factor in the standardization of FVII assay.


1967 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 619-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Jacob Koed ◽  
Christian Hamburger

ABSTRACT Comparison of the dose-response curves for LH of ovine origin (NIH-LH-S8) and of human origin (IRP-HMG-2) using the OAAD test showed a small, though statistically significant difference, the dose-response curve for LH of human origin being a little flatter. Two standard curves for ovine LH obtained with 14 months' interval, were parallel but at different levels of ovarian ascorbic acid. When the mean ascorbic acid depletions were calculated as percentages of the control levels, the two curves for NIH-LH-S8 were identical. The use of standards of human origin in the OAAD test for LH activity of human preparations is recommended.


1961 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Miller

ABSTRACT Four per cent formaldehyde, insulin, or epinephrine in oil was injected for 5 days into pigeons subjected to varying degrees of hypophysectomy alone or together with large lesions in the median eminence and hypothalamus. Adrenals atrophied after the removal of the pars distalis alone or together with the neurohypophysis in untreated pigeons but showed markedly hypertrophic interrenal tissue (cortex in mammals) after treatment with formaldehyde or insulin. The slope of the dose-response curve was similar in operated and unoperated pigeons. The accumulation of bile in the liver parenchyma, which may occur after removal of the pars distalis, is an endogenous stress which was associated regularly with adrenal hypertrophy. After very large lesions of the median eminence and ventral hypothalamus in addition to total hypophysectomy, adrenals hypertrophied rather than atrophied, and the response to formaldehyde paralleled that in intact and »hypohysectomized« pigeons. Interrenal tissue was stimulated regularly; chromaffin tissue was partially degranulated, sometimes showed hyperplasia with colchicine, but only occasionally appeared hypertrophied. Epinephrine in nearly lethal doses caused only minimal adrenal enlargement. After adrenal denervation followed by hypophysectomy, the adrenals were still stimulated by formaldehyde. It appears that the interrenal tissue of the pigeon responds to a humoral stimulus not of hypophyseal origin in the absence of the hypophyseal-hypothalamic system.


1963 ◽  
Vol 42 (2_Suppl) ◽  
pp. S17-S30
Author(s):  
Fred A. Kind ◽  
Ralph I. Dorfman

ABSTRACT Thirty-seven steroids have been studied as orally effective inhibitors of ovulation in the mated oestrus rabbit. Norethisterone served as the reference standard and a dose response curve was established between the 0.31 and 1.25 mg dose levels. Nine highly active anti-ovulatory compounds are described listed in a decreasing order of potency with norethisterone having the arbitrary value of one: 6-chloro-Δ6-dehydro-17α-acetoxyprogesterone (35), 6α-methyl-Δ1-dehydro-17α-acetoxyprogesterone (≥ 10), 6-fluoro-Δ6-dehydro-17α-acetoxyprogesterone(9), 6-methyl-Δ6-dehydro-17α-acetoxyprogesterone (5), Δ6-dehydro-17α-acetoxyprogesterone (≥ 3), 6α-methyl-17α-acetoxyprogesterone (2.6), 6-chloro-Δ1,6-bisdehydro-17α-acetoxyprogesterone (≥ 2), 2-hydroxymethyl-17α-methyl-17β-hydroxyandrostan-3-one (≥ 2), and 6α-fluoro-16α-methyl-17α-acetoxyprogesterone (≥ 1.25). The anti-ovulatory activity of a compound was not related necessarily to the progestational activity of a compound nor to the anti-gonadotrophic activity as measured in parabiotic rats. 6-Chloro-Δ60dehydro-17-acetoxyprogesterone was as effective by gavage as previously shown by subcutaneous injection. 2-Hydroxymethyl-17α-methyl-17β-hydroxyandrostan-3-one was at least 2.5 times more active by gavage than by injection. While 17α-acetoxyprogesterone was a very weak anti-ovulatory steroid, modifications of the structure by addition of methyl or halogen at the 6α position with or without unsaturation greatly increased the activity. 6-Chloro-Δ6-dehydro-27α-acetoxyprogesterone was the most active compound in this series showing a relative potency of 3500 times that of the parent compound 17α-acetoxyprogesterone.


Author(s):  
Nicola Orsini

Recognizing a dose–response pattern based on heterogeneous tables of contrasts is hard. Specification of a statistical model that can consider the possible dose–response data-generating mechanism, including its variation across studies, is crucial for statistical inference. The aim of this article is to increase the understanding of mixed-effects dose–response models suitable for tables of correlated estimates. One can use the command drmeta with additive (mean difference) and multiplicative (odds ratios, hazard ratios) measures of association. The postestimation command drmeta_graph greatly facilitates the visualization of predicted average and study-specific dose–response relationships. I illustrate applications of the drmeta command with regression splines in experimental and observational data based on nonlinear and random-effects data-generation mechanisms that can be encountered in health-related sciences.


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