Role of GABA receptors in the bronchial response: studies in sensitized guinea-pigs.

BACKGROUND

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, is also found in peripheral tissues, including the lung. GABA has recently been shown to modulate the contraction of airway smooth muscle.

OBJECTIVE

We studied the effect of GABA on the contractile properties of tracheal smooth muscle by measuring the tension of the trachea isolated from non-sensitized and ovalbumin (OA)-sensitized guinea-pigs under isometric conditions.

METHODS

Guinea-pigs were sensitized by intraperitoneal doses of OA to prepare a bronchial asthma model. Tracheal spiral rings were prepared from the OA-sensitized as well as normal, non-sensitized guinea-pigs. Using the tracheal preparations, the effects of GABA and GABAa and GABAb receptor agonists (muscimol and baclofen) and antagonists (bicuculline and saclofen) on the basal tone of the trachea and on tracheal contraction induced by electrical field stimulation (EFS) were determined. The effect of GABA on tracheal contraction induced by exogenous acetylcholine was also studied.

RESULTS

GABA and GABA agonists and antagonists had no effect on the basal tone of normal guinea-pig tracheae. Both GABAa and GABAb receptor agonists, as well as GABA, suppressed EFS-induced contraction of normal guinea-pig tracheae in a reversible, dose-dependent manner. Moreover, this suppression was reserved to the control level by either GABAa and GABAb receptor antagonists. In tracheal spiral ring prepared from OA-sensitized guinea-pigs, GABA and baclofen caused a smaller reversible inhibition of EFS-induced contraction than in normal tracheal spiral ring, while muscimol inhibited EFS-induced tracheal contraction to a similar extent to that observed in normal tracheae. GABA had no effect on the tracheal contractile response to acetylcholine.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that there may be a biological mechanism mediated by prejunctional GABAb receptors which attenuates cholinergic contraction of airway smooth muscle and that dysfunction of the receptors may underlie the airway obstruction in asthmatics.