An analysis of the anatomical basis for the mechanical response to motor nerve stimulation of the rat vas deferens

Abstract

1. An anatomical basis was sought for the biphasic motor nerve response of the rat vas deferens. The motor nerve pathway to the tissue was stimulated at different points between the vertebral outflow and the intramural fibres, in the pithed rat and in isolated tissues, to examine the possibility of two anatomically separate groups of neurones. Different preparations of the isolated tissue were devised to detect whether different groups of smooth muscle fibres contributed to the two phases.2. The fibres mediating both phases of the response arose from the upper lumbar vertebral outflows. Both phases were elicited by pre- or post-ganglionic stimulation and could be depressed by hexamethonium. In the pithed rat or with hypogastric nerve stimulation in the isolated tissue, however, the initial ;twitch' phase was relatively resistant to such blockade.3. When the rat vas deferens was perfused through the lumen in situ or in vitro, the perfusion pressure response to motor nerve stimulation exhibited two phases similar to those of the longitudinal contractile response.4. Isolated rat vasa were bisected into portions, each of which was stimulated and longitudinal tension was recorded. The proportions of the two phases of the response varied along the length of the tissue. At the prostatic end the total response was relatively weak with a dominant ;twitch' and at the epididymal end the two phases were comparable in magnitude. The distribution of adrenergic nerve terminals within the muscle layers also varied along the length of the rat vas deferens.5. The effects of drugs were investigated on the motor responses of the above preparations. The ;twitch' phase was relatively susceptible to blockade by reserpine and lysergic acid diethylamide and the ;secondary' phase to phentolamine with both equally sensitive to guanethidine. Each phase had similar susceptibilities to blockade irrespective of which part of the tissue was involved.6. It was concluded that two types of nerve-muscle transmission may be involved in the rat vas deferens with the proportion of each varying along the length of the tissue but both displaying pharmacological characteristics of adrenergic fibres.