The effect of cimetidine and two new histamine H₂-receptor antagonists, oxmetidine and SKF 93479, on histamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity was studied in guinea pig gastric mucosal cells. Histamine stimulated the enzyme activity in a concentration-dependent fashion. The concentration-response curve of histamine was progressively shifted to the right in the presence of increasing concentrations of each antagonist. The Schild plot gave a straight line for all three compounds, with a slope not significantly different from unity and this suggested a competitive antagonism. The calculated pA₂ values were 8.45 ± 0.20, 7.73 ± 0.21 and 6.81 ± 0.15 for SKF 93479, oxmetidine and cimetidine, respectively. These results are in accordance with the pharmacological potencies of the antagonists reported on isolated heart preparation and on gastric secretion in vivo. Therefore, the inhibition of histamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase of gastric cells may represent an additional tool for the in vitro evaluation of the H₂-receptor antagonists.

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The human gastric epithelial cell line HGT-1 possesses adenylate cyclase-coupled histamine H2 receptors. To test the cellular homogeneity or heterogeneity with respect to these receptors, we have isolated 7 clones from the HGT-1 line and studied their basal and histamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase activities. Basal adenylate cyclase activities of the clones did not differ significantly, nor did 10 mM NaF- nor 0.1 mM Gpp(NH)p-stimulated activities. However, histamine stimulation of adenylate cyclase varied among clones from 1.9 fold to 5.4 fold basal activity. The EC50 values, determined in 3 clones, were not significantly different. These findings support the heterogeneity of histamine responsiveness of the human gastric cell line HGT-1. In addition, they suggest that highly histamine-responsive clones may be useful models to study the gastric histamine H2-receptor and its specific antagonists in the human.