The involvement of the enteric nervous system in the intestinal secretion evoked by cyclic adenosine 3‘,5’-monophosphate

Intestinal fluid secretion was evoked in vivo in rats and cats by introducing dibutyrylcyclic adenosine 3,5-monophosphate (db-cAMP) or theophylline, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, in the intestinal lumen. The intestines were denervated periarterially. It was demonstrated that three compounds of varying chemical structure and with different modes of action on nerves (tetrodotoxin, lidocaine, hexamethonium) decreased the secretory response 60–70%. It is concluded that the secretion induced by increasing the intracellular cAMP concentrations is in part evoked via the enteric nervous system