Nonadrenergic inhibitory postsynaptic potentials of gastric smooth muscle cells

Single intramural stimulation of the atropinized muscle strip of the guinea pig stomach by square pulses was accompanied by the formation of inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) in the muscle cells and by relaxation of the strip. The mean latent period of the IPSPs was 150±15 msec, and the time for its amplitude to rise and fall was 150±15 and 375±92 msec respectively. The latent period of the onset of relaxation of the muscle strip was 1850±230 msec. The amplitude and rate of rise of these IPSPs increased with an increase in the strength of stimulation. This shows that the same gastric muscle cell is under the inhibitory influence not of one, but of several nerve fibers. The effectiveness of synaptic transmission was largely dependent on the character of the preceeding stimulation. For instance, in response to repeated stimulation with short intervals facilitation was observed, but after repetitive stimulation had ended posttetanic depression followed.A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 216–222, March–April, 1972.