Somatostatin and innervation of the heart of the snake Elaphe obsoleta.

The innervation of the heart of the snake Elaphe obsoleta was examined with peptide immunohistochemistry, glyoxylic acid-induced catecholamine fluorescence, and in vitro physiological preparations. Snakes were anesthetized with Nembutal. Many somatostatin (SOM)-like immunoreactive (LI) axons were observed in the sinus venosus, atria, and ventricle. Cell bodies with SOM-LI were found in the intracardiac nerve trunks of the sinus venosus, the interatrial septum, and the atrioventricular region. The SOM-LI axons and cell bodies were not affected by 6-hydroxy-dopamine and capsaicin. They are probably intrinsic parasympathetic neurons. Adrenergic, neuropeptide Y-LI, substance P-LI, and calcitonin gene-related peptide-LI axons were found in the sinus venosus, atria, and ventricle. In spontaneously beating sinoatrial or electrically driven atrial preparations, applied SOM (6 x 10(-9) M and 6 x 10(-8) M) decreased the force of atrial contraction and/or the rate of beating. The effects of SOM were tachyphylactic. SOM had no effect on the force of contraction of the driven ventricle. Stimulation of the left and right vagus nerves elicited negative chronotropic and inotropic responses followed by poststimulus positive inotropic and chronotropic responses. Atropine abolished the inhibition, and bretylium abolished the excitation. After cholinergic and adrenergic blockade, high-frequency vagal nerve stimulation had no effect on heart rate and the force of contraction. Thus, although there is an extensive distribution of intrinsic SOM-LI neurons in the heart and although applied SOM is a potent inhibitor of rate and force, SOM in the vagal neurons does not appear to act as a direct inhibitory transmitter to the cardiac muscle or pacemaker cells.