Disturbances of the cerebral cholinergic neurotransmitter system are present in neurodegenerative disorders. SPECT or PET imaging, using radiotracers that selectively target muscarinic receptor subtypes, may be of value for in vivo evaluation of such conditions. 6β-acetoxynortropane, a potent muscarinic M(2) receptor agonist, has previously demonstrated nanomolar affinity and high selectivity f...

Recent studies have described muscarinic receptors on the mucosa and the detrusor of the human urinary bladder. Muscarinic receptor antagonists are effective in the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB), but their site(s) of action and actual therapeutic target are unclear. Our aim was to compare, in human bladder mucosa and detrusor, the radioligand binding characteristics of newer, clinically...

Muscarinic cholinergic receptors modulate the activity and plasticity of the visual cortex. Muscarinic receptors are divided into five subtypes that are not homogeneously distributed throughout the cortical layers and cells types. This distribution results in complex action of the muscarinic receptors in the integration of visual stimuli. Selective activation of the different subtypes can eithe...

OBJECTIVES Carbachol-induced contraction of the rat colon is impaired in rats with trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis. The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of colitis on the expression and function of muscarinic (M) receptor subtypes in the rat colon. MATERIALS AND METHODS Rats (n = 80) were treated with TNBS and used 5 days later for measurement of con...

Abstract Objectives Peyronie’s disease (PD) is characterised by formation of a fibrotic plaque in the tunica albuginea which caused excessive myofibroblast presence and activity. A previous phenotypic screening campaign that tested 1,954 FDA-approved drugs for their ability to inhibit transformation PD-derived fibroblasts revealed 26 hits. Of these, we investigated following hits further; terfe...

The potential functional roles of M(3) muscarinic receptors in mouse atria were examined by pharmacological and molecular biological techniques, using wild-type mice, muscarinic M(2) or M(3) receptor single knockout (M(2)KO, M(3)KO), and M(2) and M(3) muscarinic receptor double knockout mice (M(2)/M(3)KO). Real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed th...

Smooth muscle contains multiple muscarinic receptor subtypes, including M2 and M3. M2 receptors outnumber M3 receptors. Based on the potency of subtype selective anticholinergics, contraction is mediated by the M3 subtype. However, results from knockout (KO) mice show that the M2 receptor mediates approximately 45% of the contractile response produced by the M3 receptor. The traditional theory ...

Above ureteric orifices 3 layers – adventitia, smooth muscle, and urothelium. Haphazard arrangement of smooth muscle myofibrils. Acts as functional syncytium. No specific gap junctions, but ‘areas of close proximity’ 2 main populations of receptors, cholinergic (muscarinic) and adrenergic Muscarinic subtypes M2 and M3 in bladder smooth muscle. M2 80% population, but M3 functionally important Ad...

To identify the muscarinic subtype present on the rat pancreatic acinar cell, we examined the effects of different muscarinic receptor antagonists on amylase secretion and proteolytic zymogen processing in isolated rat pancreatic acini. Maximal zymogen processing required a concentration of carbachol 10- to 100-fold greater (10-3 M) than that required for maximal amylase secretion (10-5 M). Alt...

Both the physiological role of muscarinic receptors for bladder function and the therapeutic efficacy of antimuscarinic agents for overactive bladder syndrome are well documented. We investigated the effect of antimuscarinic agents with different subtype selectivity on urodynamic parameters in nonhuman primates and rodents and compared plasma levels of these agents between species. Anesthetized...