Effect of misoprostol on histamine-stimulated acid secretion and cyclic AMP formation in isolated canine parietal cells.

Isolated canine parietal cells were used to study the ability of misoprostol to inhibit acid secretion in the presence of a number of acid secretagogues. Misoprostol inhibited histamine-stimulated acid secretion in a dose-dependent and noncompetitive manner. A concentration of 2-3 X 10(-9) M misoprostol inhibited maximal histamine-stimulated acid secretion by one half. Misoprostol had little to no effect on acid secretion stimulated by carbachol and dibutyryl cAMP, had no effect on the acid secretion directly stimulated by pentagastrin, and only modestly inhibited acid secretion stimulated by forskolin. Misoprostol noncompetitively inhibited cAMP formation in response to histamine, with an IC50 value similar to that for the inhibition of histamine-stimulated acid secretion. These results indicate that: (1) misoprostol specifically inhibits histamine-stimulated acid secretion in parietal cells, and (2) the antisecretory action of misoprostol is closely related to the reduction of histamine-stimulated cAMP formation with the site of major action most likely in the coupling process between histamine H2 receptor sites and histamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase.