Comparative study of some isolated mammalian smooth muscle effectors of penile erection.

Spontaneous rhythmic activity, responses to drugs and effects of field stimulation of nerves of the retractor penis (rp) and/or corpus cavernosum urethrae (ccu) of macaque, rabbit, guinea-pig, rat, dog, cat, horse, boar, elk, bull, ram and goat, as well as of the penile artery (pa) of bull were studied. A basic property of all these muscles was automaticity. Their responses to 5-hydroxytryptamine, histamine, adenosine triphosphate, prostaglandins E1, E2, AND F2alpha, oxytocin, vasopressin, substance P, bradykinin and angiotensin exhibited considerable species variations. Their excitatory innervation seems to be adrenergic. They also have an inhibitory innervation. In spite of comprehensive pharmacological analysis the inhibitory mediator remains obscure. The frequency--response relationship to inhibitory nerve stimulation was characterized by a rapidly achieved maximum at low frequencies, indicating high efficiency of the neuroeffector unit.