Abstract

Increased smooth muscle tone in the human prostate contributes to the symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia. In the mouse prostate gland, cholinergic innervation is responsible for a component of the nerve-mediated contractile response. This study investigates the muscarinic receptor subtype responsible for the cholinergic contractile response in the mouse prostate gland. To characterize the muscarinic receptor subtype, mouse prostates taken from wild-type or M₃ muscarinic receptor knockout mice were mounted in organ baths. The isometric force that tissues developed in response to electrical-field stimulation or exogenously applied cholinergic agonists in the presence or absence of a range of muscarinic receptor antagonists was evaluated. Carbachol elicited reproducible and concentration-dependent contractions of the isolated mouse prostate, which were antagonized by the presence of muscarinic receptor antagonists. Calculation of antagonist affinities (pA₂ values) indicated a rank order of antagonist potencies in the mouse prostate of: darifenacin (9.08) = atropine (9.07) = 1,1-dimethyl-4-diphenylacetoxypiperidinium iodide (9.02) > cyclohexyl-hydroxy-phenyl-(3-piperidin-1-ylpropyl)silane (7.85) > cyclohexyl-(4-fluorophenyl)-hydroxy-(3-piperidin-1-ylpropyl)silane (7.39) > himbacine (7.19) > pirenzipine (6.88) > methoctramine (6.20). Furthermore, genetic deletion of the M₃ muscarinic receptor inhibited prostatic contractions to electrical-field stimulation or exogenous administration of acetylcholine. In this study we identified that the cholinergic component of contraction in the mouse prostate is mediated by the M₃ muscarinic receptor subtype. Pharmacological antagonism of the M₃ muscarinic receptor may be a beneficial additional target for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia in the human prostate gland.