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Nicardipine Photosynthesis Lab Report

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The experiment supported the hypotheses and the aims were met; lignocaine, atropine and hexamethonium were identified to inhibit peristalsis (53.6%, 45.8% and 56.8% respectively). Nicardipine completely inhibited peristalsis with 0.0% of the standard amplitude (Figure 2). This standard amplitude of 2.0cm · H2O was chosen because it caused the maximum peristaltic response without fatiguing the tissue (Figure 1). A decline in amplitude over time would have shown this fatigue. Lignocaine, a local anaesthetic, showed inhibition of peristalsis because it blocks sodium-ion protein channels in nerves. This prevented the initiation and proliferation of nerve action potentials; hence its use as a local anaesthetic (Nagy & Woolf, 1996). It acts on nociceptive neurons, which resulted in a diminished amplitude of contraction. This indicates that partial inhibition occurred. Partial inhibition of the peristaltic reflex was also …show more content…

This indicates that the myenteric plexus was the source of the neuronal origin resulting in the diminishment of sustained contraction (Suzuki & Gomi, 1992). Ligand-gated ion channels are another form of receptors located in the enteric nervous system, which mediate fast synaptic responses (Galligan, 2002). These include nicotinic acetylcholine receptors which seem to be exclusively located on neurons but not on the muscle. Thus, hexamethonium will interrupt neuronal transmission with varying inhibition levels. Alternatively, cholinergic excitation of intestinal muscle occurs due to muscarinic acetylcholine receptors that are blocked by atropine although not entirely (Wood, 1972). Therefore, as both cholinergic antagonists, atropine and hexamethonium, failed to completely inhibit peristalsis, cholinergic transmission must be involved in the coordination of this reflex

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