Caffeine contracture in guinea-pig ventricular muscle and the effect of extracellular sodium ions

1. The mechanisms underlying the virtual absence of caffeine contracture in guinea-pig heart in a Na+-rich external solution were reinvestigated in small (50-120 microns thick) bundles of intact and skinned papillary muscle fibres. 2. In Na+-free solution, the peak tension of 30 mM-caffeine contracture corresponded to the maximum tension of the skinned fibres, and was independent of changes in [Ca2+]o and [K+]o. In the presence of external Na+, the peak tension, which was at most several per cent of the maximum, was affected by [Ca2+]o, [Na+]o and [K+]o, and enhanced by Mn2+ and Ni2+. 3. In the absence of Ca2+, replacement of Na+ with K+ allowed caffeine to evoke a large contracture, showing that there was sufficient calcium stored in the cells under Na+-rich conditions. After treatment with 30 mM-caffeine in the Na+-rich, Ca2+-free solution, and upon replacement of all Na+ with Li+, caffeine was still able to produce a large contracture, which was dependent upon Ca2+ pre-loading of the cells before the first caffeine treatment and upon the subsequent duration in the Na+-free solution. 4. Replacement of Li+ with Na+ during the contracture led to rapid relaxation which was delayed by an increase in [Ca2+]o, depolarization by K+, and addition of La3+ and Mn2+. After Na+-induced complete relaxation in the absence of Ca2+, upon removal of the drugs and Na+, subsequent application of caffeine to the cells evoked a large contracture without Ca2+ reloading. 5. In the skinned fibres, 30 mM-caffeine increased the Ca2+ sensitivity of the contractile system and depressed the maximum tension. An increase in Na+ from 8.4 to 58.4 mM altered neither Ca2+ sensitivity nor the rate of tension development in the absence or presence of caffeine. 6. Increase in Na+ affected neither the rate nor the amount of Ca2+ uptake by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in the absence or presence of caffeine. Increasing Na+ slightly inhibited the caffeine-induced Ca2+ release from the SR, but more than 10 mM-caffeine produced SR Ca2+ depletion. 7. In the presence of a strong Ca2+ buffer, the steady level of Ca2+ uptake by the SR with 1 mM-caffeine was equal to the amount of Ca2+ remaining in the SR just after the application of caffeine, indicating that Ca2+ release was not inactivated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)