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The pre- and postjunctional components of the neuromuscular effect of antibiotics

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Abstract

The relative contributions of the pre- and postsynaptic components of the myoneural blocking effect of different antibiotics were studied using: (a) a radioactive method that measures selectively the Ca2+-dependent, stimulation evoked, quantally released,3H-acetylcholine (3H-ACh) from the mousein vitro phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm preparation without cholinesterase inhibition; (b) measurement of the force of contraction of the indirectly or directly stimulated muscle. The antibiotics studied (neomycin, polymyxin B and lincomycin), reduced the release of3H-ACh evoked by stimulation (18 trains of 40 shocks at 50 Hz) in a concentration dependent manner. While the inhibitory effect of neomycin was inversely related to [Ca2+] o , that of lincomycin was moderately and that of polymyxin B was not affected by increasing [Ca2+] o from 0.75 to 5.0 mM. Similarly, the dtubocurarine (d-Tc) -induced inhibition of the release of3H-ACh was independent of [Ca2+] o . The K-channel blocking agent, 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), enhanced the release of ACh in a concentration dependent manner and prevented the neuromuscular effect of neomycin. However, the neuromuscular effect of polymyxin B and of lincomycin was not affected by 4-AP. Atropine, enhanced the release of3H-ACh. Antibiotics, however, were still able to reduce the release of ACh when the negative muscarinic feedback mechanism of ACh release was eliminated by atropine. Our findings indicate that the antibiotics studied possess both pre — and postsynaptic effects. Presynaptically they reduce the evoked release of ACh; postsynaptically they inhibit muscle contractility. The rank order of presynaptic action is neomycin >polymyxin B >lincomycin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, POB 67, 1450, Budapest, Hungary

    E. Sylvester Vizi, Ijaz A. Chaudhry, Paul l. Goldiner, Yoshio Ohta, Hideo Nagashima & Francis F. Foldes

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Hospital Medical Center, 10467, Bronx, N.Y., USA

    E. Sylvester Vizi, Ijaz A. Chaudhry, Paul l. Goldiner, Yoshio Ohta, Hideo Nagashima & Francis F. Foldes

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  1. E. Sylvester Vizi
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  2. Ijaz A. Chaudhry
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  3. Paul l. Goldiner
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  4. Yoshio Ohta
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  5. Hideo Nagashima
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  6. Francis F. Foldes
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Vizi, E.S., Chaudhry, I.A., Goldiner, P.l. et al. The pre- and postjunctional components of the neuromuscular effect of antibiotics. J Anesth 5, 1–9 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/s0054010050001

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s0054010050001

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