Morphine attenuates cholinergic nerve activity in human isolated colonic muscle

The action of morphine on cholinergic nerves in human sigmoid taenia coli muscle strips (taenia) was investigated using a radiolabelling technique. Basal release of tritiated material from taenia was increased by electrical field stimulation (EFS). This increase was tetrodotoxin (3.14 microM)-sensitive and calcium-dependent. Analysis of basal and stimulated release of tritiated material indicated that evoked release (i.e. stimulated minus basal) is almost entirely due to an increase in [3H]-acetylcholine ([3H]-ACh) output. Evoked release of [3H]-ACh was dependent on the current strength and could be greatly reduced by exposing taenia to hemicholinium (34.8, 87.0 microM) before and during incubation with [3H]-choline (4 microCi ml-1, 15 Ci mmol-1). Spontaneous activity, muscle tone and the motor response of taenia to EFS were unaffected by morphine. Evoked, but not basal, release of tritiated material was inhibited by morphine (1.32-13.20 microM) in a concentration-dependent manner. The inhibition of release was frequency-dependent and naloxone (0.28 microM)-sensitive. The possible relationship between the effects of morphine on cholinergic nerves in taenia muscle and its actions in vivo are discussed.