Evidence for purinergic transmission in mouse bladder and for modulation of responses to electrical stimulation by 5-hydroxytryptamine.

Electrical stimulation (ES) contracted superfused mouse bladder, and 10(-7) M tetrodotoxin (TTX) abolished the twitches without impairing responses to acetylcholine (ACh) or beta,gamma-methylene ATP. ES acted largely through nerves which were not cholinergic, adrenergic or histaminergic. They may be purinergic because the bladder was contracted by stable analogues of ATP, and after desensitisation by a high concentration of alpha,beta-methylene ATP the response to ES was selectively reduced. 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) at 0.03-3 X 10(-6) M and tetraethylammonium (TEA) at 0.1-10 X 10(-3) M potentiated responses to ES, on average by 64% and 182%. Pempidine had no effect on responses to ES. The action of TEA was different from that of 5-HT; potentiation of responses was greater than could be produced by 5-HT, and whereas 5-HT did not increase responses to ACh, TEA markedly increased twitch tensions. The mode of action of 5-HT is not clear.