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. 1972 Oct;46(2):234–242. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1972.tb06868.x

A comparison of the excitatory and inhibitory effects of non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic nerve stimulation and exogenously applied ATP on a variety of smooth muscle preparations from different vertebrate species

G Burnstock, D G Satchell, Anne Smythe
PMCID: PMC1666337  PMID: 4631338

Abstract

1. The responses to non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic nerve stimulation have been compared with those to exogenously applied ATP on seventeen different tissues from a number of vertebrate classes.

2. Stimulation of all the mammalian gut preparations studied (with the exception of the guinea-pig ileum) after blockade of the effects of adrenergic and cholinergic nerve stimulation by guanethidine (3·5 μM) and hyoscine (1·3 μM) caused inhibition; exogenously applied ATP mimicked this inhibitory response.

3. Stimulation of the guinea-pig ileum in the presence of hyoscine and guanethidine, usually caused a diphasic response, relaxation followed by contraction; exogenously applied ATP mimicked this response, in contrast to acetylcholine and noradrenaline which caused excitation and relaxation respectively.

4. Stimulation of preparations of lower vertebrate gut and guinea-pig bladder in the presence of hyoscine and guanethidine caused contraction; exogenously applied ATP mimicked this contractile response.

5. In each preparation the time course of the response to ATP was similar or identical to the response to non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic nerve stimulation.

6. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that a purine nucleotide may be the transmitter substance released from non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic nerves supplying smooth muscle preparations from a number of vertebrate classes.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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