A difference in receptor mechanisms for muscarinic full and partial agonists

Concentration-response curves of 4 muscarinic full agonists were progressively inhibited by 10 to 50-min treatments of the longitudinal muscle of guinea pig ileum with propylbenzilylcholine mustard (PrBCM, 3 x 10(-6) M). A 90-min treatment with PrBCM had no further significant inhibitory effect on their curves. The 50-min treatment with PrBCM (3 x 10(-6) M) completely inhibited the concentration-response curves of 6 partial agonists. The limiting effect of PrBCM observed on the concentration-response curves of the full agonists was not found on the curves of the partial agonists. These results suggest that there are two subtypes of M3-cholinoceptors, PrBCM-sensitive receptors and PrBCM-resistant ones. Pilocarpine, a partial agonist, shifted the concentration-response curve of carbachol, a full agonist, in a parallel fashion in the strips treated with PrBCM (3 x 10(-6) M) for 50 min, suggesting that an interaction of pilocarpine with PrBCM-resistant cholinoceptors does not induce contraction. The full agonists contract the longitudinal muscle through the interaction of two cholinoceptors, PrBCM-sensitive and -resistant ones, while the partial agonists produce the contraction through the activation of PrBCM-sensitive ones.