Protection by Tacrine and Some Adjuncts against the Depressant Effects of Soman in Guinea-Pig Atrium

Abstract

The negative inotropic effects of soman have been reported previously. It was suggested that the depression in atrial force of contraction was a consequence of continuous muscarinic receptor activation by excessive acetylcholine (ACh) accumulation and also possibly through direct interactions at the receptor-associated K+ channels by organophosphate (OP). In this study, the protective effects of tacrine (THA), an antimuscarinic as well as a K+ channel blocker, against soman in guinea-pig atrium were investigated. It was found that tacrine could antagonize the negative inotropic effects of soman. This antagonism occurred in a concentration dependent manner, with effective concentrations (ECs) fore tacrine ranging from 1.7 to 12.1 micrometers when the atrium was equilibrated with 0.05-10 micrometers soman. Inclusion of an oxime HI-6 (100 micrometers) in the regimen improved the efficacy of tacrine against soman (1 micrometer) by 16.1 fold. Addition of a potent antimuscarinic, either atropine or glycopyrrolate with tacrine also improved tacrine's efficacy against soman significantly. Atropine, at equivalent concentration, appeared to be the most effective of the three. At 0.1 micrometers concentration, atropine was 4.25 and 3.47 times more potent than HI-6 and glycopyrrolate respectively in enhancing THA efficacy.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1993
Accession Number
ADA283795

Entities

People

  • Wai-man Lau

Organizations

  • Defence Science and Technology Group

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acetylcholinesterases
  • Alzheimer Disease
  • Amines
  • Atropine
  • Australia
  • Biological Sciences
  • Brain
  • Cerebral Cortex
  • Chemistry
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Inhibition
  • Materials
  • Micrometers
  • Organophosphates
  • Organophosphorus Compounds
  • Poisoning
  • Rodents

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Chemistry

Readers

  • Cardiovascular Physiology
  • Neurotoxicology