Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) and PTH-Related Peptide Induce Relaxation of Smooth Muscle Cells from Guinea Pig Ileum: Interaction with Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Receptors

PTH-related peptide (PTHrP), which shares 8 of 13 NH2-terminal residues with PTH, causes similar biological effects and interacts with the same receptor as PTH. In the gastrointestinal tract, human PTH and PTHrP-(1-34) relax rat fundic strips. However, the level of their action and the receptor involved in this effect are unknown. The aims of this study were 1) to determine the effects of human PTH-(1-34), human PTHrP-(1-34), -(1-16), and -(7-34) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on circular isolated smooth muscle cells from guinea pig ileum; 2) to study the intracellular pathways involved in these effects; and 3) and to characterize the receptors involved by using specific antagonists. Smooth muscle cells were dispersed by enzymatic digestion. Contraction was assessed by measuring the length of 50 cells and expressed as the percent decrease in cell length from the control value. The relaxing effects of PTH, PTHrP and analogs, VIP, or antagonists were expressed as a percentage of the maximal effect ...