Characteristics and cholinergic control of the 'minute rhythm' in ovine antrum, small bowel and gallbladder.

Eight adult conscious rams were used to characterize further the minute rhythm and to determine the role of cholinergic receptors in nervous control of this event. In chronic experiments, the myoelectrical and motor activity of the gastrointestinal tract and gallbladder were recorded. Physiological experiments were performed in fasted or non-fasted rams before, during and after feeding, and the occurrence of minute rhythm during various phases of the migrating motor myoelectric complex was observed. The pattern occurred most frequently in the small intestine, where it exhibited mostly the propagating character. It was also detectable in the ileum. In the gallbladder, the minute rhythm arrived systematically and its character was irregular, propagating, retropropagating or stationary. In all episodes observed, it was well correlated with that in the small intestine. In the pyloric antrum, the minute rhythm was identified occasionally. During pharmacological experiments, 0.15 M NaCl or graded doses of hexamethonium, atropine and pirenzepine were administered intravenously during various phases of the migrating motor myoelectric complex, in fasted and non-fasted animals, before and during feeding. The drugs inhibited the minute rhythm in the small bowel for a longer period than in the gallbladder. However, the smallest dose of pirenzepine (0.02 mg/kg) exerted a non-significant effect both in the small intestine and in the gallbladder. It is concluded, that in normal conditions the minute rhythm occurs regularly in the entire small intestine and in the gallbladder. In the small intestine the pattern is organized more precisely. The minute rhythm is controlled by nicotinic receptors and by muscarinic receptor subtypes.