Impairment of Ca release from mammalian ventricular sarcoplasmic reticulum by the calcium channel agonist Bay K 8644.

Positive inotropic concentration of the Ca-channel agonist, Bay K 8644, depressed contraction of canine right ventricular trabecula immediately after a rest period of 8 min, without decreasing action potential plateau amplitude. In contrast, high external Ca and ouabagenin caused only a slight decrease in post-rest contraction. Bay K 8644-induced post-rest depression was inversely related to the extracellular Ca concentration. Hence it could not be due to cellular Ca overload. Since post-rest potentiation is due to increased contribution of Ca from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, these results suggest that Bay K 8644 decrease the amount of releasable Ca from this structure during rest.