The acute partial failure of neuromuscular transmission by reserpine in the isolated perfused rabbit's heart.

It has been well established that the application of reserpine in vivo leads to a prolonged decrease in endogenous noradrenaline (NA) content and reduces the responses of various kinds of sympathetically inner vated organs to the nerve stimulation. However, there are few available reports about the action of reserpine in acute phase. In the present experiment, it was investigated in the isolated perfused rabbit's heart. Langendorff's preparations with bilateral stellate ganglia were perfused with Krebs bicarbonate solution (sodium (Na) 143 mm) as described previously (1). Procedures of the electrical nerve stimu lation and perfusion of reserpine (Serpasil® CIBA) solution (10-'g/ml) are explained in Fig. 1. About one-third of the preparations was suspended by means of the perfusion apparatus (Natsume KN-206) for recording isotonic changes in spontaneous contractile responses to the nerve stimulation or exogenously ap