Effects of forskolin on electrical behaviour of myenteric neurones in guinea‐pig small intestine.

Abstract

The actions of forskolin on electrical behaviour of myenteric neurones were investigated with intracellular recording methods in guinea-pig small intestine. The actions of forskolin were: membrane depolarization, increased input resistance, suppression of post-spike hyperpolarizing potentials and repetitive spike discharge. These effects occurred always in AH/Type 2 myenteric neurones and never in the cells classified as S/Type 1. Reversal potentials for the depolarizing effects were near the estimated potassium equilibrium potential. Analyses based on the 'constant field equation' indicated that the permeability ratios of K+ to other permeant ionic species were reduced by forskolin. Pretreatment of the neurones with a phosphodiesterase inhibitor potentiated the effects of forskolin. The results suggest that activation of adenylate cyclase by forskolin and subsequent elevation of intraneuronal adenosine 3',5'-phosphate (cyclic AMP) mimic slow synaptic excitation in AH/Type 2 myenteric neurones. They support the possibility that cyclic AMP functions as a second messenger in signal transduction which appears to involve closure of calcium-dependent K+ channels and other membrane changes that lead to depolarization and a dramatic increase in the excitability of the neurones.