title: Neuronal influence on the mechanical activity of the ciliary muscle.
abstract: 1 Neuronal effects and the pharmacological properties of the bovine ciliary muscle were investigated in vitro. The bovine ciliary muscle exhibited no spontaneous activity. 2 Electrical stimulation of an isolated short ciliary nerve produced distinct contractions. The minimal stimulus duration required to evoke a contraction was 0.2 ms and amplitude of the contraction was maximal at 2 ms. Twitch or incomplete tetanus reached a complete tetanus with 4 Hz stimulation. 3 Raising the external potassium concentration from 5.9 to 158.8 mM produced a contracture which consisted of an initial phasic and then tonic components. 4 The contractions generated by either electrical stimulation (0.2-100 ms) or high K were potentiated by physostigmine and completely inhibited by atropine. Neither adrenoceptor agonists nor blockers influenced these contractions. 5 Application of tetraethylammonium (TEA), potentiated the electrically-induced ciliary muscle contraction, and the effect of TEA was not completely inhibited by high concentrations of either atropine or tetrodotoxin. Thus, TEA presumably acts both pre-junctionally and post-junctionally to increase the contractile development of ciliary muscle. 6 The ciliary contractile response is primarily mediated by acetylcholine released from nerves, and this response is accompanied by a negligible contribution from the sympathetic nerves. Depolarization induced by electrical currents or by high K was ineffective in evoking contraction of the ciliary muscle. 7 The results suggest that excitation of the ciliary muscle is probably mediated via junction potentials or by a direct transmitter action without any very great change in the potential. Action potentials are probably generated in the presence of TEA.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002924:Ciliary Body / Q000294:innervation* / Q000502:physiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000502:physiology*; D010830:Physostigmine / Q000494:pharmacology; D011188:Potassium / Q000494:pharmacology; D013757:Tetraethylammonium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D013757:Tetraethylammonium Compounds; D010830:Physostigmine; D011188:Potassium