Characteristics of myocardial contractions activated under depolarizing conditions

Guinea pig papillary muscles were used to study the activation of myocardial contractions under depolarizing conditions. Depolarization promoted by TKBa (normal Tyrode solution containing KCl and BaCl2) and TKAdr (normal Tyrode solution containing KCl and adrenaline) inactivates the fast Na current and under these conditions only slow responses are available to activate contractions. Since the slow response is sensitive to changes in rate and rhythm, we searched for mechanical correlates using isometrically contracting preparations to study the force-frequency relationship as well as rest potentiation. We also investigated if contractions are dependent only on the slow response or if the complete action potential plays a special role in the activation of contractions. We conclude that the slow response is the main mechanism for the activation of myocardial contraction, because complete mechanical activation was observed under depolarizing conditions. However, the electrical behavior of the slow response is reflected in the mechanical behavior of the depolarized preparations. At high rates, disturbances of excitation occur in depolarized cells and contractions appear to be bigeminal or with 2:1 block. Furthermore, after long pauses, post-rest contractions are depressed and increase progressively with repetitive stimulation, probably due to changes in the latency and threshold of the slow response. The complete action potential also plays a role in the activation of myocardial contractions which is necessary for the resting potentiation phenomena and also to avoid the larger depression of the rest contractions that can be seen in depolarized muscles when the pause is prolonged. This behavior seems to be related to the decrease of intracellular Na concentration produced by the inhibition of the fast inward Na-current.