Abstract
Summary
Intracellular sodium concentration of stimulated rat gastrocnemius muscle increased 3-fold while potassium decreased by almost one-third after 20 minutes of stimulation (20/sec). Dibenzylene abolished these changes and strikingly reduced the amplitude of muscular contraction. Pitressin (80 mU intravenously) in Dibenzylene treated rats restored both the cationic shifts and muscular contractions during its period of effectiveness. We suggest that the ability of Pitressin to restore work performance is brought about by a direct action on cationic exchanges across the muscle membrane.
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