Objectives: The aim was to characterize the effect of penehyclidine hydrochloride, which mediates the relaxation of guinea-pig isolated gastrointestinal smooth muscle, on muscarinic receptor subtypes.
Methods: Radioimmune assay was used to determine cAMP levels in isolated guinea-pig gastrointestinal smooth muscle to compare the selective effects of penehyclidine hydrochloride on muscarinic receptor subtypes.
Key findings: The results indicated that the relaxing effect of penehyclidine hydrochloride on isolated gastrointestinal smooth muscle contraction induced by acetylcholine was stronger than that of atropine (based on PA2 values). In the radioimmune assay, penehyclidine hydrochloride increased the cAMP content in isolated guinea-pig stomach smooth muscle and decreased the cAMP content in isolated guinea-pig intestinal smooth muscle, but the difference was not statistically significant at a dose of 10 mumol/l.
Conclusions: The results suggest that penehyclidine hydrochloride has little or no effect on M2 receptor subtypes in guinea-pig gastrointestinal smooth muscle.