Abstract
Aqueous extract of the spines of the brown bullhead catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus Lesueur, 1819) caused contraction of the guinea-pig small intestine in vitro, a widely-used preparation in pharmacology. The action is dependent on extracellular Ca2+, and probably takes place on the smooth muscle cells. Mouse gastrointestinal preparations were also contracted by the extract. Stings by the spines of this fish species causes a painful sensation in man. We tested the effect of an extract of spines in isolated organ experiments on innervated smooth muscle preparations. In the guinea-pig ileum, the response to the extract was abolished by the Ca2+-channel blocker nifedipine, but only slightly reduced by atropine (a muscarine receptor antagonist) or tetrodotoxin (TTX; a blocker axonal conduction) or antagonists for P2X purinoceptors. Blocking of serotonin or histamine H1 receptors, tachykinin NK1 receptors, functional impairment of capsaicin-sensitive sensory nerve endings or inhibition of cyclo-oxygenases failed to infuence the contractile effect of the extract. No inhibitory action of the extract was detected on the ileum subject to electrical motor nerve stimulation.
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Acknowledgements
The authors express their thanks to the Faculty of Medicine, University Medical School for providing a postdoctoral grant to Timea Bencsik and supporting this research in other ways as well.
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Barthó, L., Sándor, Z. & Bencsik, T. Effects of the Venom of the Brown Bullhead Catfish (Ameiurus Nebulosus) on Isolated Smooth Muscles. BIOLOGIA FUTURA 69, 135–143 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1556/018.69.2018.2.3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/018.69.2018.2.3