Abstract:
Experiments were carried out on isolated rat phrenic nerve diaphragm preparations and Chick biventer cervicis preparations. Dimethyltrilobine iodide (DTI) blocked neuro-muscular transmission without affecting the conductivity of the nerve and muscle contractile response to direct stimulus. The actions of DTI was compared with those of curare
in vitro. The ID
50 of DTI and curare were found to be 1.9 × 10
-5M and 8.0×10
-7M respectively, DTI reduced the sensitiyity of the chick biventer cervicis muscle to Ach. High Ca
2+ antagonised the effect of DTI on neuro-muscular transmission. It is concluded that DTI produces a neuromuscular block by acting on the Ach receptor.