Amplitude fluctuations in the contractile responses of small fragments of rat papillary muscle

Contractile responses of small rat papillary muscle segments (length = 0.25 mm) superfused in a normal Tyrode's solution (t = 35 degrees C) and stimulated at a frequency of 0.16 Hz have been measured, using an original technique. The amplitude of contractile responses was found to fluctuate with the variation of 3.0 +/- 0.4 mu, though the contraction amplitude of the entire muscle remained constant from beat to beat. After the addition of caffeine (6 mM) the variation of contractile responses decreased up to 0.83--0.03 mu, demonstrating a crucial role of sarcoplasmic reticulum in the phenomenon. It is believed that contractility inhibition during calcium overload may be caused by the same reason.