Contraction of Cardiac Muscle Worksheet

Experiment 1: Length-Tension Curve

 Insert Figure 1 here (experimental trace). Make sure that you have an appropriate figure legend.

Table 1. The effect of muscle length on passive and active tension in isolated toad cardiac
muscle.

Muscle Length (mm)

Passive Tension (i.e. the

tension recorded in between
contractions) (g)

Peak or Maximum Tension

(recorded during a
contraction) (g)
Active Tension

(Peak - Passive Tension;

please take care with
negative values) (g)

 Insert Figure 2 here (graph). Make sure that you have an appropriate figure legend.

(1) Explain, referring to your data (i.e. table 1 and/or figure 1), what happened to the active tension
when you increased the length of your ventricular muscle preparation.
[maximum 50 words]

(2) Explain how this length-tension relationship in the isolated strip of toad ventricular muscle relates to
the changes in left ventricular end diastolic volume (EDV), stroke volume and cardiac output that
would be observed in a toad.
[maximum 100 words]
(3) What happened to the contractions when you turned off the electrical stimulator?

[maximum 10 words]

(4) Where is the electrical activity of the mammalian heart normally initiated and how does it spread
through the heart (i.e. from cell to cell)?

[maximum 100 words]

Experiment 2: Effect of Adrenaline

 Insert Figure 3 here (experimental trace). Make sure that you have an appropriate figure legend.

(5) Quantify the effect of adrenaline on the active tension developed by the cardiac muscle. For
example, what was the percentage increase or decrease in active tension produced by adrenaline in
your preparation (i.e. compare the size of the active tension before and after the addition of
adrenaline)? You must show your calculations.

[maximum 50 words]

(6) Explain, using the cardiac intracellular pathways, how adrenaline produced this effect in the
ventricular muscle cells (use a diagram, if this helps you with your explanation).
[maximum 150 words]

2
Experiment 3: Effect of Nifedipine (calcium channel blocker)
(7) Quantify the effect of nifedipine on the active tension developed by the cardiac muscle. For
example, what was the percentage increase or decrease in active tension produced by nifedipine in
your preparation (i.e. compare the size of the active tension before and after the addition of
nifedipine)? You must show your calculations.

[maximum 50 words]

(8) Explain, using the cardiac intracellular pathways, how nifedipine produced this effect in the
ventricular muscle cells (use a diagram, if this helps you with your explanation).

[maximum 150 words]

(9) What would you expect to happen to the contractions if the calcium concentration in the bathing
solution was reduced to zero? Explain why.

[maximum 100 words]