Korean J Urol.  2005 Feb;46(2):169-173.

Relaxation Responses of Isolated Rabbit Seminal Vesicle to Polyamines

• Myung SC
• Lee SY
• Kang GH
• Keum EM
• Lee MY
• Kim SC

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate the effects of polyamines on rabbit seminal vesicular contractility.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The polyamines; putrescine, spermidine and spermine, were added to deepithelized and precontracted seminal vesicle strips, with either 10 4M norepinephrine (NE), 10 4M acetylcholine (ACh) or 70mM KCl, in organ chambers to obtain cumulative concentration response curves. A whole cell mode patch clamp study was also performed to observe the effects of the polyamines on the L-type calcium channel activities.
RESULTS
The polyamines elicited concentration-dependent relaxations of the precontracted strips with the NE, ACh and KCl. The spermine showed the most potent relaxation response. Both extracellular and intracellular application of the spermine decreased the L-type calcium channel currents.
CONCLUSIONS
Spermine more potently inhibited the seminal vesicle contraction than putrescine or spermidine, which suggests the polyamines may play a role in maintaining the basal tonicity of seminal vesicle in a flaccid state. The spermine-induced relaxation response seems to be related with an inhibition of the L-type calcium channel activities.

Keyword

Polyamines; Seminal vesicle; Relaxation; L-type calcium channel

MeSH Terms

Acetylcholine
Calcium Channels, L-Type
Norepinephrine
Polyamines*
Putrescine
Relaxation*
Seminal Vesicles*
Spermidine
Spermine
Acetylcholine
Calcium Channels, L-Type
Norepinephrine
Polyamines
Putrescine
Spermidine
Spermine