Neuromodulation of guinea pig intestinal electrolyte transport by cholecystokinin octapeptide

We examined the effect of cholecystokinin octapeptide on electrolyte transport across isolated guinea pig mucosa. Segments of distal ileum stripped of longitudinal muscle and bathed on both sides with a Krebs'-bicarbonate buffer responded to cholecystokinin octapeptide when studied under short-circuited conditions. Cholecystokinin octapeptide (0.5-50 nmol/L) evoked a transient (4-10-minute) increase in transepithelial potential difference and short-circuit current upon application to the serosal side. Maximal increases in short-circuit current, achieved at 50-500 nmol/L, were 67 +/- 11 microA/cm2, whereas half-maximal effects occurred at a concentration of 0.7 +/- 0.2 nmol/L. Pretreatment of the tissues with 0.5 mumol/L atropine reduced the maximal short-circuit response to cholecystokinin octapeptide by 53%. The change in short-circuit current due to cholecystokinin octapeptide was nearly abolished by pretreatment with 0.5 mumol/L tetrodotoxin, suggesting neuronal involvement. Cholecystokinin octapeptide-induced increases in short-circuit current were halved by removal of serosal buffer Ca2+ and were abolished in Cl(-)- and HCO3(-)-free buffer. The cholecystokin-receptor antagonists proglumide and lorglumide shifted the concentration-response curve for cholecystokinin octapeptide competitively to the right, having antagonists potencies of 130 and 0.03 mumol/L, respectively. Cerulein (0.1-500 nmol/L) also increased short-circuit current, whereas nonsulfated cholecystokinin octapeptide was ineffective. In conclusion, cholecystokinin octapeptide seems to act at neuronal cholecystokinin receptors to stimulate mucosal anion secretion, in part, by releasing acetylcholine.