Evidence that prostaglandin is responsible for the 'rebound contraction' following stimulation of non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic ('purinergic') inhibitory nerves.

Abstract

The prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor, indomethacin, blocks the "rebound contractions" which characteristically follow the inhibitory responses of the guinea-pig taenia coli to non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic (purinergic) nerves and to exogenously applied ATP, without affecting the responses to periaterial adrenergic nerves. Since adenine nucleotides are known to induce prostaglandin synthesis, this result is consistent with the purinergic hypothesis and suggests that purinergic nerves may form a link with prostaglandin in the physiological regulation of a variety of organs.