Accumulation of Adenosine 3′,5′-Monophosphate and Relaxation in the Rat Uterus In Vitro

Abstract

Theophylline, diazoxide, and papaverine in low concentrations relaxed the uterus with minimal or no elevation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels. In higher concentrations, theophylline relaxed the uterus and increased its cAMP levels, but imidazole reversed the increase in cAMP without causing recontraction. Imidazole and NaF caused uterine contractures but did not detectably decrease cAMP levels until several minutes after the onset of contractures. The uterine relaxations produced by theophylline and/or dibutyryl cAMP in amounts which increased uterine cAMP were not reversed by propranolol. These results eliminate the possibility that propranolol interfered with a relaxant action of cAMP. Along with previous data, these results also show that uterine contractile activity was not determined primarily by the general levels of cAMP and that phosphodiesterase activity in the uterus was insufficient to rapidly affect these cAMP levels. Also, substances like theophylline, diazoxide, and papaverine, postulated to inhibit phosphodiesterase activity, did not bring about their relaxant effects by this mechanism.