The effect of corticosteroid pretreatment in vivo on the contraction of guinea-pig ileum and duodenum.

The effects of corticosteroid pretreatment on the contraction caused by acetylcholine or electrical stimulation of guinea-pig ileum and duodenum were studied. The acetylcholine dose-response curves for steroid pretreated ileum but not duodenum were significantly shifted to the right; evidence that pretreated ileum required higher dose of acetylcholine than normal to cause 50% maximal contraction. Naloxone enhanced the contraction of normal ileum caused by acetylcholine given at the dose of ED50, but not that of normal duodenum. The dose of morphine required to abolish electrically induced contraction was higher in steroid pretreated ileum than in normal ileum. Hence, corticosteroid pretreatment may affect intestinal contractility via opioidergic mechanisms which are found in the ileum but not in the duodenum.