The Influence of Epithelial Sodium Channels in Isolated Goat Ileum Segment; Interaction with Steroids.

The contractile effect of Acetylcholine (Ach) in the isolated longitudinal ileal muscle of adult goats was studied over a varying concentration range. Ach produced a concentration dependent-response curve indicative of an interaction with muscarinic receptors in the ileum, with a maximum contraction seen at 12 μM. On the other hand, pretreatment with the ENaC blocker, Amiloride (100 μM) substantially reduced the Ach induced contractions by 67.11 %. However, pretreatment with Prednisolone (2mM) restored this effect and the relaxation induced was only 14.26 %. This change was found to be statistically significant. This study emphasizes the importance of ENaC channels in the goat intestinal smooth muscle.