Acetylcholine as a possible neurotransmitter in penile erection.
We investigated the erectile response to intracavernous injection of increasing doses of acetylcholine (0.5 to 500 micrograms.) in 10 monkeys. To differentiate between nicotinic (ganglionic) and muscarinic (parasympathetic postganglionic) effects, acetylcholine was likewise administered after 1.6 mg. trimethaphan camsylate and 0.1 mg. atropine, alone or sequentially. Erections were induced by cavernous nerve stimulation before and after atropine. Acetylcholine induced a dose-dependent, triphasic erectile response: a first tumescence phase followed by contraction and a subsequent second phase of tumescence. Atropine reduced but did not abolish the erectile response to acetylcholine: attainment of maximal intracavernous pressure after neurostimulation was both delayed and reduced (mean 25 cm. H2O). Only after combined nicotinic and muscarinic blockade was the erectile response to acetylcholine completely abolished. Histologic staining for acetylcholinesterase in five additional monkeys that had not received acetylcholine showed dense staining within the cavernous erectile tissue and around the cavernous arteries. Our data suggest that acetylcholine is a possible neurotransmitter for penile erection in monkeys.
Stief
C
C
Department of Urology, University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco.
Benard
F
F
Bosch
R
R
Aboseif
S
S
Nunes
L
L
Lue
T F
TF
Tanagho
E A
EA
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001285:Atropine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008254:Macaca nemestrina; D008297:Male; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000502:physiology*; D010410:Penile Erection / Q000187:drug effects; D010413:Penis / Q000294:innervation
D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; D001285:Atropine; D000109:Acetylcholine