The influence of temperature and frequency of stimulation on the impairment of excitability of frog skeletal muscle by local anesthetics and alkyl amphipathic agents.

The potency of various types of alkyl amphipathic (cationic, anionic, and neutral) as well as tertiary amine local anesthetics in impairing the excitability of frog skeletal muscle was markedly enhanced by an increase in temperature from 20 to 30 degrees C. Enhancement of the local anesthetic effects of all types of agents was also produced by a decrease in temperature to 5 degrees C, but this effect was found to be frequency dependent. With abrupt increase or decrease in temperature, changes in excitability were rapid and unlikely to be the result of changes in the partition of the apolar portions of these molecules into the hydrophobic regions of the sarcolemma. These results are interpreted as indicating that both the presence of local anesthetics and alterations in temperature can influence the rates of potential-dependent changes in the conformation of membrane proteins that control the permeability of excitable sodium channels, possibly by modifying the fluidity of specific portions of their hydrophobic components or their immediate lipid environment. The accumulation of inactivation as the result of incomplete recovery from the effects of preceding depolarizations appears sufficient to explain the frequency-dependent effects produced by these agents.