Antisecretory effect of prostaglandin D2 in rat colon in vitro: action sites

The effect of prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) on colonic ion transport was studied in the Ussing chamber. PGD2 (10(-6) M) decreased baseline short-circuit current (Isc) in two preparations of rat colon descendens, a mucosa-submucosa preparation with and a mucosa preparation without the submucosal plexus. In both preparations, PGD2 inhibited the neuronally mediated secretory responses to electric field stimulation, the sea anemone toxin ATX II, and different cholinergic agents. Unidirectional flux measurements revealed that PGD2 diminished the secretagogue-induced increase in the serosal-to-mucosal flux of Cl- and thereby inhibited net Cl- secretion. PGD2, however, had no effect on the adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate-mediated response to forskolin or vasoactive intestinal peptide or on guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate-mediated secretion induced by the heat-stable enterotoxin of Escherichia coli. The PGD2 also blocked the increase in Isc evoked by two neuronally acting inflammatory mediators, i.e., bradykinin and PGI2 in the mucosa-submucosa preparation, but had no effect on the response to PGE2. Consequently, PGD2 exerts an indirect antisecretory effect caused by an inhibition of enteric secretomotor neurons of both the submucosal and the mucosal plexus.