Electrically induced relaxation of the noradrenaline contracted isolated urethra from rabbit and man

Isolated urethral preparations from rabbit and man responded to transmural electrical stimulation with contraction when the basal tension was low, and with relaxation when the preparations were contracted by noradrenaline, clonidine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and lysine vasopressin. Both contractant and relaxant responses were abolished by tetrodotoxin, suggesting that they were caused by the action of transmitters released from nerves. The electrically induced contractions in the rabbit urethra had a threshold frequency of 5 to 6 Hz and maximum was reached at 40 Hz. The responses were markedly reduced by alpha-receptor blockers suggesting that the released contraction-mediating transmitter was mainly noradrenaline. The relaxant response was immediate and rapidly reversible. It was obtained at a threshold frequency of 1 to 2 Hz and maximum was reached at 10 to 15 Hz. It was not inhibited by propranolol, indomethacin, atropine or peptides such as substance P, VIP, vasopressin or somatostatin. Prostaglandin E2, isoprenaline, adenosine-5'-triphosphate and VIP relaxed the noradrenaline contracted rabbit urethra with a time course different from that of the electrically induced relaxation. Nifedipine and "calcium free" solution decreased the noradrenaline induced contraction but did not influence the relaxant response to electrical stimulation. It is suggested that the relaxant response of the isolated noradrenaline-contracted urethra to electrical stimulation is caused by an unknown transmitter released from nerves.