ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate and compare the actions of vecuronium and atracurium on adult and embryonic-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (?-and ?-nAChR) at skeletal muscle cell membrane. Methods The adult and embryonic nAChRs were heterologously expressed in HEK 293 cells. Peak currents induced by actions of vecuronium and atracurium at ?-and ?-nAChR were recorded in HEK 293 cells, using whole cell patch clamp technique. Results Vecuronium and atracurium competitively inhibited ?-and ?-nAChR in HEK 293 cells. The inhibitor concentrations for half-maximal response (IC50) for vecuronium and atracurium ate-nAChR were (8.3 ? 2.6) ?mol/L and (24.2 ? 10.5) ?mol/L respectively; The IC50 values for vecuronium and atracurium at e-nAChR were (55.0 44 28.4) ?mol/L and (183.2 ? 39.2) ?mol/L respectively.Conclusion According to IC50 values for both adult and embryonic type nAChR, vecuronium is more potent than atracurium on e-and 7-nAChR. Embryonic nAChR is less sensitive to vecuronium and atracurium than adult-type nAChR.