D-600 sensitive and insensitive spontaneous contractions in the guinea-pig hepatic duct

The mechanical properties of the longitudinally cut preparations of the guinea-pig hepatic duct were studied. About 42% of the preparations (18 of 43 preparations) showed spontaneous phasic contractions which were unaffected by either tetrodotoxin, guanethidine or atropine. About 60% of them exhibited phasic contractions which appeared at irregular frequencies in the same tissue and varied in size. This sort of contractions usually accompanied small contractions. In about 20%, contractions occurred constantly in frequency (about 6-14 every 10 min) and in size. The remaining 20% showed twitch-like contractions which occurred sporadically. These contractions were classified into two types depending upon the susceptibility to the Ca2+ entry blocker, D-600. D-600 (1-100 microM) strongly suppressed both regularly occurring contractions and twitch-like ones. On the other hand, the drug was ineffective on irregularly occurring contractions. The Ca2+ sources underlying these contractions were discussed.