[Role of adenosine in the digitalis action on atrio-ventricular conduction in the dog heart].

In order to explore the hypothesis about the existence of an adenylic component on ouabain effects on the atrioventricular node, we perform experiments on anesthetized and vagotomized dogs. Decremental propagation of impulses through atrioventricular conduction system was evaluated stimulating the right atria at frequencies from 3.5 to 5.0 per second. Aminophylline antagonized and dipyridamole synergized the atrioventricular decremental conduction induced by digitalis. The blockade of purinergic receptors produced by aminophylline and the inhibition of adenosine endocytosis by dipyridamole could explain these antagonic and synergistic interaction with ouabain, and constitute an experimental evidence favorable to the possibility of the existence of a purinergic component on the digitalis mechanism of action.