Fig. 6.

Differential effects of cholinergic or nitrergic blockade on conscious mouse distal colon contractions pattern. A miniature pressure transducer catheter was placed in the distal colon of mice (2 cm proximal to the anus) under brief isoflurane anesthesia. Mice were pretreated (3–5 min) with either saline (0.1 ml ip), atropine (0.5 mg/kg ip) or l-NAME (10 mg/kg ip) and placed in a partial restraint tube for distal colonic pressure recording for 60 min. A: representative raw traces of distal colonic contractions. B: time course of colonic pAUC (mmHg × min) during the 60-min period. C: mean colonic pAUC (mmHg × min) of the 0- to 10-, 10- to 20-, and 20- to 60-min periods. *P < 0.05 vs. the respective saline group; n = 6/group; ANOVA.