The ineffectiveness of carnitine preventing the twitchings of striated frog muscle in 0.7 per cent sodium chloride solution.

Abstract

The spontaneous twitchings of isolated frog sartorius muscles in 0.7% NaCl solution have been studied. Addition of 1 mg./ml. of (+/-)-carnitine hydrochloride, or of (+/-)-carnitine base, to the bath fluid had no influence on the spontaneous activity of the muscles, their excitability or their ability to liberate potassium. This indicates that carnitine is not a natural inhibitor of striated frog muscle. Fluids enriched with potassium either from twitching muscle or by addition of KCl inhibited the activity of muscles reversibly.