Effects of Prostacyclin on Contractile Properties of Isolated Mammalian Cardiac Muscle

Abstract

We studied the influence of prostacyclin (PGI2) on the contractile performance of isolated mammalian ventricular muscle. PGI2 had no direct influence on myocardial contractility, as evidenced by experiments on single cardiac cells and papillary muscle. Moreover, PGI2 did not interfere with the inotropic action of isoproterenol. In comparison, neither prostaglandin E1 nor E2 appeared to have any cardiotonic action.