Conditional inhibition of screening-pigment aggregation by lidocaine in crayfish photoreceptors and frog retinal pigment epithelium.

Lidocaine, at concentrations equal to or lower than those that inhibit fast axoplasmic transport, was found to interfere with the dark-adapting migration of the screening pigments along crayfish photoreceptors and within the cells of the frog retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The effects of the anesthetic on pigment movements were studied in isolated eyes incubated under light or dark conditions in media of different ionic compositions. Treatment of crayfish eyes with 25 mmol l-1 lidocaine in normal Van Harreveld's saline arrested pigment migration to the dark-adapted position or caused migration towards the light-adapted position in the dark. Similar results were obtained with frog eyecups exposed to 5 mmol l-1 lidocaine in Ringer's solution. In each case, the inhibition of dark adaptation was reversible and dependent on the levels of Na+ and Ca2+ in the incubation medium. A dark-adapted position of both pigments was compatible with lidocaine treatment provided that low-Na+, or high-Ca2+ or Co(2+)-containing solutions were used. These results indicate that light-adapted and dark-adapted pigment positions in both types of retinal cells can occur in the absence of local nervous input. Further, the data suggest a direct effect of lidocaine upon the photoreceptors or RPE cells. The inhibition of pigment aggregation is interpreted to be a consequence of an anesthetic-induced increase in the permeability of the plasma membrane, which in turn affects the intracellular ionic balance that controls pigment position.