The response of isolated cardiac muscle to acute anoxia: protective effect of adenosine triphosphate and creatine phosphate

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Abstract
A standardized and reproduceable preparation is described that enables the effect of drugs to be examined on the response of isolated cardiac muscle to acute anoxia. There was a linear relation (r = 0·963) between tension developed in isolated, electrically-driven guinea-pig atria and the oxygen tension of the fluid surrounding the muscle. For any one atrial preparation the time taken, from the beginning of the anoxic period, for tension to be reduced by 50 % was constant for consecutive anoxic periods. ATP and creatine phosphate significantly increased this time and protected cardiac muscle against the consequences of anoxia; in concentrations that were without direct cardiac effects, a greater degree of protection was possible with creatine phosphate.