Age-related changes in contractile force of rabbit detrusor muscle to prostaglandin E1, E2 and F2 alpha

Contractile responses of urinary bladder muscle strips to prostaglandin (PG) E1, E2 and F2 alpha were compared in young and old rabbits. All PGs tested caused an increase in contractile force of urinary bladder muscle strips from young (3 weeks) and old (greater than 2 years) rabbits. The contractile response was most marked with PGE2 at concentrations of 10(-10)-10(-7) M in muscle strips from both young and old rabbits. At a high concentration (10(-5) M), the contractile response was most marked with PGF2 alpha in young rabbit bladder muscle strips, whereas in old rabbit bladder muscle strips the magnitude of the responses to PGE2 and PGF2 alpha were equal at 10(-6) M and both were greater than the response to PGE1. The contractile response to PGE1 was greater in old detrusor than in young detrusor at concentrations greater than or equal to 10(-6) M, whereas the contractile response to PGE2 (10(-7)-10(-5) M) and PGF2 alpha (10(-6)-10(-5) M) were greater in young detrusor than in old detrusor. These data show that rabbit detrusor muscle shows a contractile response to PGE1, E2 and F2 alpha and that the magnitude of these responses vary with age.