Possible mechanisms of action of caerulein on intestinal motility of sheep.

The authors report the stimulatory effects provoked by caerulein on caecum and colon motilities in sheep which are quite opposite to those exerted by the same peptide on the forestomach and abomasal sections. By means of various pharmacological tools these effects are suggested to be attributable to a direct effect of caerulein on the smooth muscle of these viscera through the involvement of receptors different from those ones on which CCK may be antagonizable by proglumide or cGMP pretreatments.