Effect of ivory shell toxin on the parasympathetic ganglia of the dog urinary bladder.

Ivory shell toxin (IST) was first isolated by Hashimoto et al. (1967) from the Japanese ivory shell (Babylonia japonica) which causes sporadically food-poisoning in Japan. Hirayama et al. (1970) found that the toxin is extremely potent in blocking autonomic ganglia. Since the parasympathetic ganglia of the dog urinary bladder have been shown to possess both nicotinic and muscarinic receptors (Taira et al. 1971), the present experiments were attempted to investigate whether IST blocks specifically the nicotinic receptors there.