[Effect and its mechanism of substance P on contractile activity of isolated antral muscle strips of rat].

The present study was aimed at investigating the effect of substance P (SP) on the contractile activity of isolated antral muscle strips of rat and its underlying mechanism. Isolated strips were incubated in an organ bath into which SP was added with or without pretreatment of some antagonists or inhibitors. The results were as follows: (1) SP increased the contractile amplitude of the strips in a dose-dependent manner from 8 x 10(-11) to 8 x 10(-7) mol. At 4 x 10(-8) mol the amplitude was increased by 160.9 +/- 23.0%, while the automaticity of the strips was not affected. (2) This effect of SP could be partially inhibited by hexamethonium (ganglionic blocker), cyproheptadine (blocker of 5-HT2 receptor), diphenhydramine (blocker of H1 receptor), or aminophylline (inhibitor of phosphodiesterase), but not by atropine, propranolol, phentolamine, haloperidol, or naloxone. These results suggested that SP might be a non-cholinergic excitatory transmitter. Its spasmogenic action might be mediated by activating 5-HT neurons, which elicited release of histamine or directly acted on muscle cells.