title: Tonic inhibition of small intestinal motility by nitric oxide.
abstract: The effects of blocking nitric oxide synthase with the arginine analog N omega-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA) were investigated in anaesthetized cats, vagotomized and pretreated with guanethidine and atropine. Spontaneous NANC jejunal motility (recorded as the volume changes of an intraluminal balloon) was markedly increased in a dose-dependent and stereospecific manner. The effect of L-NNA was partly reversed by L-arginine, the substrate for nitric oxide (NO) synthesis. Thus, this study presents evidence for a tonic inhibitory influence, via the release of NO, on small intestinal motility in vivo. Furthermore, relaxations upon the L-NNA-induced hypermotility could be elicited by vagal nerve stimulation, which may suggest the existence of another NANC inhibitory transmitter. Hexamethonium abolished such relaxations but did not affect the tone or phasic activity after L-NNA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Surgery, University of Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: B I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Gustafsson
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Delbro
mesh_terms: D000594:Amino Acid Oxidoreductases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D002415:Cats; D003864:Depression, Chemical; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000187:drug effects*; D006584:Hexamethonium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000187:drug effects*; D007583:Jejunum / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D009020:Morphine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D019335:Nitroarginine; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D006584:Hexamethonium Compounds; D019335:Nitroarginine; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D009020:Morphine; D001120:Arginine; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D000594:Amino Acid Oxidoreductases