Significance of skeletal muscle digitalis receptors for [3H]ouabain distribution in the guinea pig.

The importance of specific digitalis glycoside binding sites in skeletal muscle for the digitalis glycoside distribution in the guinea pig was evaluated using [3H]ouabain and [3H]digoxin binding assays. Measurements of [3H]ouabain binding capacity (EOmax) in gastrocnemius and heart muscles in vitro gave values of 474 +/- 15 and 1,092 +/- 39 pmol/g wet wt., respectively, in 4-week-old guinea pigs. Hence the total amount of [3H]ouabain binding sites in skeletal muscle and the heart was around 42,700 and 1,200 pmol, respectively. The apparent dissociation constants (Kd) for ouabain receptor interaction was 0.7 X 10(-7) and 1.5 X 10(-7) M for skeletal muscle and heart, respectively. Comparison of [3H]ouabain and [3H]digoxin binding revealed that these drugs are competitive. From birth to maturity the concentration of [3H]ouabain binding sites in guinea pigs decreased from 803 +/- 58 to 304 +/- 28 pmol/g wet wt. in gastrocnemius muscle and from 1,458 +/- 31 to 1,079 +/- 19 pmol/g wet wt. in the heart. After i.p. injection, measurements of the distribution of [3H]ouabain in plasma, skeletal muscle and the heart showed an almost equal relative specific occupancy of digitalis glycoside receptors in skeletal muscle and the heart: When 10% of the digitalis receptors in the heart were occupied by [3H]ouabain, 13% of those in the skeletal muscles were occupied. It was calculated that 1 hr after the i.p. administration of [3H]ouabain the amount of [3H]ouabain specifically bound to the skeletal muscles and the heart corresponded to 5 times and 1/10 the amount available in the extracellular pool, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)