Uptake and stimulus-evoked release of [3H]-gamma-aminobutyric acid by myenteric nerves of guinea-pig intestine.

1--Following preloading with [3H]-gamma-aminobutyric acid ([3H]-GABA), in the presence of beta-alanine to inhibit glial uptake of the label, electrical stimulation caused a frequency-dependent release of tritium as [3H]-GABA from isolated longitudinal-muscle myenteric-plexus preparations of the guinea-pig ileum and colon. 2--The electrically evoked efflux of [3H]-GABA was Ca2+-dependent, virtually abolished by preventing neuronal conduction with tetrodotoxin, and markedly reduced by preloading with [3H]-GABA in the presence of nipecotic acid which is an inhibitor of high affinity GABA-uptake. Veratridine and KCl were less effective than electrical stimulation in evoking [3H]-GABA release. 3--It is concluded that the electrically stimulated efflux of [3H]-GABA originated from GABAergic neurones of the myenteric plexus which had taken up the label. 4--These results provide further evidence to support the suggestion that GABA is a transmitter in the mammalian enteric nervous system.