Fig. 2

Effects of a nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor on relaxation responses elicited by EFS in the hamster colon. a A representative tracing of EFS-mediated response in the hamster colon in the presence or absence of N _ω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME) (200 μM), an NOS inhibitor, is shown. EFS was applied using multi-pulses of 20 V each, with a 0.3-ms pulse duration at 2 Hz for 1 s; longitudinal mechanical responses were recorded isometrically. Circles Points of electrical stimulations. b Summary graphs of the effects of L-NAME (50 or 200 μM) on EFS-evoked relaxation in the hamster colon (n = 6). Each value represents the mean ± SD. **p < 0.01 and *p < 0.05 compared to the control, which is the response before the addition of L-NAME