[Calcium antagonism by papaverine in isolated rat gastric fundus strips in a model system]

Examining isolated strips of gastric fundus tissue of rats the authors observed that papaverin up to 7.8 X 10(-8) to 6.25 X 10(-7) mol/l increased the intensity of convulsions induced by constant amounts of barium chloride (9.5 X 10(-4); with further increase of the concentration the intensity of convulsions gradually sank under the initial value. An increased proneness to cramping was also observed when the calcium content of the Tyrode solution was reduced. In this case the proneness to cramping was highest between 1 and 1.3 mmol/l calcium content. When the calcium content was 1 mmol/l, papaverin increased the proneness to cramping only to a smaller degree, in agreement with the effect measured when the calcium content of the organ bath was reduced below 1 mmol/l. In model experiments, calcium antagonized the potential difference-increasing effect of papaverin at the ether/NaCl (0.1 mol/l) phase boundary. From this the authors infer an interaction (complex formation) between papaverin and calcium at the phase boundary, which is independent of the biological medium. Their findings and the papaverin -calcium antagonism first observed by Benigni [2] can be interpreted in this way.