Abstract

Metoclopramide has a dual effect on intestinal smooth muscle. Low concentrations of metoclopramide cause potentiation of the responses to substance P, acetylcholine, histamine and barium chloride on the guinea-pig ileum. Higher concentrations produce a depression of smooth muscle responses which is characteristic of the tertiary amine local anesthetics. Neural pathways are involved in the mechanism of potentiation, since the enhancement of the responses to the agonists is abolished by tetrodotoxin. Atropine partially antagonizes the potentiating effect of metoclopramide implying that activation of muscarinic receptors is a contributing factor, but this does not fully explain the potentiation.