Abstract
It was reported that the tonic response of K-induced contracture in guinea pig taenia coli resulted possibly from a transmembrane transport of Ca and its transport depended on the aerobic breakdown of carbohydrate (1, 2). On the other hand, Bülbring (3) noted that an increase in tension of the muscle in taenia coli stimulated by acetylcholine or histamine is accompanied by a proportional increase in the rate of oxygen consumption. In the present paper, an apparatus to record simultaneously Po2 in the medium and muscle tension changes of taenia coli was devised, and a change in oxygen consumption during K-induced contracture in this smooth muscle was studied. Recently Bülbring and Golenhofen (4) devised an apparatus for simultaneous measurement of oxygen consumption and both electrical and mechanical activity of isolated smooth muscle preparations. Notwithstanding similarities our apparatus was devised quite independent of their work (4), and some of the data obtained using our apparatus has already been published (5).
