Nonadrenergic, noncholinergic responses stabilize smooth muscle tone, with and without parasympathetic activation, in guinea-pig isolated airways.

In guinea-pig isolated airways, nonadrenergic, noncholinergic (NANC) neural responses converge towards a similar level of smooth muscle tone, via a contraction when the tone is low prior to stimulation, and via a relaxation when the tone is high prior to stimulation. We wanted to assess the effect of simultaneous parasympathetic activation on these converging NANC responses, with and without the addition of sympathetic activation. In guinea-pig isolated airways, the spontaneous airway tone was initially abolished by indomethacin (10 microM). In one series, adrenergic depletion by guanethidine (10 microM) was then established, with and without cholinergic blockade by atropine (1 microM). In another series, either cholinergic blockade by atropine (1 microM) or no blockade was utilized. Responses to electrical field stimulation (1,200 mA, 0.5 ms, 3 Hz for 240 s) were studied with no induced tone, at a moderate (0.3 microM) and at a near-maximum (6 microM), histamine-induced tone. The mean level of the tonus equilibrium (% of maximum tone) was higher with the simultaneous NANC and parasympathetic activation than with NANC activation alone (75% compared with 44%, in the main bronchus, n = 8). The level of the tonus equilibrium was also higher with the simultaneous NANC, sympathetic and parasympathetic activation than with NANC and sympathetic activation only (49% compared with 21%, in the main bronchus, n = 8). The pattern was similar in the distal trachea. In conclusion, NANC neural responses can stabilize smooth muscle tone, and this stabilizing effect can be modulated by both parasympathetic and sympathetic activation, in guinea-pig isolated airways.