Nitric oxide as an endogenous modulator of cholinergic neurotransmission in guinea-pig airways.
Guinea-pig trachea possesses an inhibitory (bronchodilator) non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic (i-NANC) innervation associated with cholinergic nerves, which may be mediated, at least in part, by nitric oxide (NO). L-NG-Nitro-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an inhibitor of endogenous NO synthesis, enhanced cholinergic responses to electrical field stimulation with no effect on contractile responses to exogenous acetylcholine or excitatory NANC (e-NANC) bronchoconstriction. The effects of L-NAME were reversed by L-arginine but not D-arginine. These results suggest that NO released by nerve stimulation modulates cholinergic neurotransmission in guinea-pig trachea.
Belvisi
M G
MG
Department of Thoracic Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Chelsea, London, U.K.
Stretton
D
D
Barnes
P J
PJ
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission; D014132:Trachea / Q000294:innervation* / Q000502:physiology
D009569:Nitric Oxide; D001120:Arginine; D000109:Acetylcholine; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester