ABSTRACT. The effects of various selective phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors on muscle contractility and cyclic nucleotide contents in the guinea pig gall bladder were investigated. Various selective PDE inhibitors, vinpocetine (type 1), erythro-9-(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)adenine (EHNA, type 2), milrinone (type 3), Ro20-1724 (type 4), and zaprinast (type 5), inhibited CCh-induced contractions in a concentration-dependent manner. The rank order of potency for the gall bladder was Ro20-1724 > vinpocetine > EHNA >milrinone > zaprinast, which was different from that of the trachea, taenia coli, and aorta. In the presence of CCh (0.3 µM), vinpocetine, milrinone, and Ro20-1724 each increased cAMP content, but not cGMP. By contrast, zaprinast increased cGMP content, but not cAMP, and EHNA increased both cAMP and cGMP contents. These results suggest that vinpocetine-, milrinone-, and Ro20-1724-induced relaxation was correlated with cAMP, zaprinast-induced relaxation was correlated with cGMP, and that EHNA-induced relaxation was correlated with cAMP and cGMP in the guinea pig gall bladder. In conclusion, the effect of PDE inhibitors in the guinea pig gall bladder was different from those in smooth muscles, such as the trachea, taenia coli, and aorta. KEY WORDS: cAMP, cGMP, Gall bladder, PDE inhibitor.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 67 (7): [659][660][661][662][663][664][665] 2005 Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) are important second messengers, and have been associated with smooth muscle relaxation [5]. These cyclic nucleotides are synthesized by adenylyl cyclase or guanylyl cyclase, and are degraded by phosphodiesterase (PDE). Currently, PDEs are classified into 11 families [3,6,23], and selective PDE inhibitors have been found [4]. It has been reported that the relaxation induced by these selective PDE (type 1-type 5) inhibitors is involved in the increases in cAMP and/or cGMP contents in vascular [14], tracheal [16], urinary [15,22], and intestinal smooth muscle [10,11]. Since PDE1 and 2 hydrolyze cAMP and/or cGMP [3], it is thought that type 1 and type 2 inhibitor-induced relaxations may be correlated with increases in cAMP and/or cGMP in smooth muscles. It has been reported that vinpocetine (type 1 inhibitor) induced relaxation in the rabbit aorta through the increase in cGMP content [1,7], and in the rat urinary bladder [15] and guinea pig taenia coli [10] through an increase in the cAMP content. There have been few reports indicating that relaxation induced by EHNA (type 2 inhibitor) is associated with the increases in the cyclic nucleotide contents of smooth muscle [9,11,13].Additionally, the relationship of relaxation induced by these selective inhibitors and cyclic nucleotides is less clear in the smooth muscle of the gastrointestinal tract. Barnette et al. [2] assessed the activity of PDE families and the relaxation induced by the PDE3, 4, and 5 inhibitors in canine colonic smooth muscle. They showed that PDE3 and 4 inhibitors decreased the hydrolysis of cAMP, that the PDE5 inhib...