Numerical simulation of motility patterns of the small bowel. II. Comparative pharmacological validation of a mathematical model

A model of a locus of the small bowel, described earlier by the authors (Mi ftakhov et al., 1999) was validated in a comparison of the results of numer ical simulations of pharmacological compounds to their effects in biologica l studies. The actions of the following four classes of drugs were simulate d, those: (i) acting on the sarcoplasmic reticulum, (ii) altering the perme ability of L- and T-type Ca2+ channels on the smooth muscle membrane, (iii) motilides, and (iv) benzodiazepines. The strong qualitative resemblance be tween the theoretical and experimental results supports the robustness of t he model. (C) 1999 Academic Press.