Biphasic GABA-A receptor-mediated effect on the spontaneous activity of the circular layer in cat terminal ileum.

1. The GABA and GABA-A receptor agonist muscimol changed the spontaneous mechanical activity of a circular layer isolated from cat terminal ileum, while the selective GABA-B receptor agonist (+/-)baclofen had no effect. 2. GABA at doses ranging from 1 microM to 2 mM elicited concentration-dependent biphasic responses which consisted of a relaxation followed by contraction, with a tonic and a phasic component. The EC50 values, calculated at 95% confidence limits (CL), were 94.9 microM (83.5-109.8 microM) and 66.0 microM (51.2-75.5 microM) for the relaxation and contractile phases, respectively. 3. The GABA-induced biphasic responses were sensitive to bicuculline and picrotoxinin and were entirely mimicked by muscimol. Bicuculline competitively antagonized the effects of GABA and gave closely similar pA2 values for both phases of these responses--inhibitory and stimulatory. Cross-desensitization occurred only between GABA and muscimol and not between (+/-)baclofen and GABA, or (+/-)baclofen and muscimol. 4. Both bicuculline-sensitive phases evoked by GABA and muscimol were abolished by tetrodotoxin or atropine, but were unaffected by guanethidine or naloxone. 5. The present results suggested that the biphasic GABA effect on the mechanical activity of the circular layer in cat terminal ileum was mediated by prejunctional GABA-A receptors, most probably through an action on the cholinergic pathway.