Contractant and relaxant properties of the female rabbit urethral submucosa

Isolated submucosal (lamina propria) preparations from the female rabbit urethra exhibited both contractant and relaxant properties. The nerve-mediated contraction to electrical field stimulation was adrenergic in nature, and both this response and the contraction induced by exogenous application of noradrenaline were blocked to a greater extent by alpha 2 than by alpha 1-adrenoceptor blocking agents. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide was found to be a potent inhibitor of the noradrenaline-mediated contraction. Neuropeptide Y induced contraction of the preparation, but also inhibited the nerve-mediated contractant response. In noradrenaline-contracted preparations, electrical field stimulation induced a non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic relaxation. The maximum relaxant response was significantly greater when the preparations were contracted by clonidine than by noradrenaline. Abundant smooth muscle cells with no obvious connection to vessel walls were found in the submucosa, but to what extent the contractant and relaxant responses can be ascribed to vascular or non-vascular smooth muscle is not settled. The results indicate a non-uniform distribution of the peripheral nervous control within the wall of the female rabbit urethra. The demonstrated contractant and relaxant properties of the submucosal tissue might be of importance for urethral function.