Summary
Ethyl alcohol (0.16–2.4 g/kg i.v.) causes a marked increase in Renshaw cell activity as tested by antidromic stimulation of motor nerve fibres in cats. Ethanol decreases the threshold, enhances the frequency of the early discharge and prolongs the firing rate, and induces or increases spontaneous activity. This activating effect is present in anesthetized as well as in unanesthetized decerebrated or spinalized cats. The effects of ethanol on the cholinergic Renshaw cells correspond well with its known facilitating effect on the cholinergic neuromuscular junction.
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This work was supported in part by grants from the Sonderforschungsbereich 33: „Nervensystem und biologische Information” of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
A preliminary report was given at the XXV International Congress of Physiological Sciences (Hagenah et al., 1971).
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Meyer-Lohmann, J., Hagenah, R., Hellweg, C. et al. The action of ethyl alcohol on the activity of individual Renshaw cells. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 272, 131–142 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00508764
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00508764