Phosphoramidon potentiates the increase in lung resistance mediated by tachykinins in guinea pigs

This study was designed to evaluate the role of endogenous enkephalinase in regulating bronchoconstrictor responses in guinea pigs. We evaluated the effects of phosphoramidon, an enkephalinase inhibitor, on the increases in lung resistance (RL) caused by exogenous substance P and inhaled capsaicin (an agent thought to provoke bronchoconstriction in guinea pigs by stimulating the release of tachykinins from afferent nerve endings). In 6 of 6 animals, phosphoramidon potentiated the substance P-induced increase in RL (RL increased 380 +/- 100% [mean +/- SEM] before phosphoramidon and 1,300 +/- 400% afterward, p less than 0.025). In 4 of 4 animals, the repeated administration of a single dose of substance P after saline did not result in potentiation of the increase in RL caused by substance P. Similarly, in 6 animals exposed to inhaled capsaicin, phosphoramidon significantly increased capsaicin responsiveness when compared to 6 capsaicin-exposed animals not treated with phosphoramidon. Phosphoramidon-induced augmentation of the airway responsiveness to substance P and to capsaicin was not simply the result of a nonspecific increase in airway smooth muscle responsiveness because phosphoramidon failed to potentiate the bronchoconstrictor response to inhaled acetylcholine. These results suggest the enkephalinase plays an important role in modulating in vivo bronchoconstrictor responses to substance P in guinea pigs. Therefore, alterations in enkephalinase activity could contribute to in vivo alterations in bronchoconstrictor responsiveness.