
95% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1491123
The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background. Antispasmodic agents are used to treat abdominal pain. The mode of action of pinaverium bromide and propinox in the colonic tissue has never been characterized. This study aimed to explore whether HBB can complement the antispasmodic effects of these drugs.Methods. Colon samples were procured from the macroscopically normal regions of 33 patients undergoing colon cancer surgery and subjected to muscle bath experiments. Pinaverium bromide and propinox alone and in combination with HBB were assessed under the following conditions: (1) spontaneous phasic contractions (SPCs) induced by isometric stretch (with 1 µM tetrodotoxin); (2) contractility induced by 10-5 M carbachol; (3) the electrical field stimulation (EFS) of the excitatory pathway (in the presence of 1 mM Nω-nitro-L-arginine and 10 µM MRS2179); and (4) an EFS-induced selective excitation of the inhibitory pathway (under nonadrenergic, noncholinergic pharmacological conditions). An isobolographic study was performed to evaluate the possible interaction between pinaverium bromide, or propinox and HBB.Results. Pinaverium bromide and propinox concentration-dependently reduced SPC (10-5 M: 29%-47% reduction) in both muscle layers. Carbachol-induced contractions were partially reduced by pinaverium bromide (10 -5 M: 37%-46% reduction) and propinox (10 -5 M: 32%-44% reduction) and almost totally inhibited by the combination with HBB. EFS-induced contractions were slightly decreased by pinaverium bromide (10 -5 M; circular muscle: 39% reduction, but no effect on longitudinal muscle) and propinox (10 -5 M: circular 48% and longitudinal 37%), and to a greater extent, by the combination with HBB. Both pinaverium bromide (10 -5 M: 11%) and propinox (10 -5 M: 42%) reduced the EFS-induced off-response but not the on-relaxation. The interaction index measured for the combined activity of HBB with pinaverium bromide or propinox was less than 1 in SPC, carbachol-induced contractions, and EFS-induced contractions.Conclusions. The pharmacological profile obtained in this study was consistent with an L-type calcium channel blocker for both pinaverium bromide and propinox, with an unlikely or a weak antimuscarinic effect for the latter. When combined with the antimuscarinic agent HBB, both pinaverium bromide and propinox showed a synergistic inhibition of contractile responses. This finding could have clinical implications, suggesting a combination treatment approach for greater therapeutic benefits.
Keywords: Abdominal Pain, Calcium channel blocker, Colonic Motility, Hyoscine butylbromide, Pinaverium, propinox
Received: 04 Sep 2024; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Traserra, Alcalá-González, Barber, Landolfi, Malagelada, Lange, Appelqvist, Corsetti and Jimenez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Marcel Jimenez, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, 08193, Catalonia, Spain
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Research integrity at Frontiers
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.