In the electrically field-stimulated rabbit vas deferens, muscarinic receptor agonists increase twitch-height by actions at postjunctional M2 receptors and decrease twitch-height by actions at prejunctional M1 receptors. In the present studies, in contrast to previous reports, muscarinic receptor agonists primarily decreased twitch-height, produced minimal increases in twitch-height, and, produced identical responses in both epididymal and prostatic tissue segments, thus permitting a more detailed investigation of the M1 receptor component of action of muscarinic receptor agonists in the rabbit vas deferens. The nonselective muscarinic receptor agonist carbachol produced biphasic effects on twitch-height in the vas deferens: lower concentrations increased twitch-height to only approximately 25-30% over control, whereas higher concentrations inhibited the twitch. The selective M1 receptor antagonist pirenzepine blocked the inhibitory effects of carbachol, and unmasked carbachol-induced increases in twitch-height. Atropine, 4-DAMP (4-diphenylacetoxy-N-methylpiperidine methiodide) and AF-DX 116 (11-2[[2-[(diethylamino)methyl]-1-piperidinyl]acetyl]-5,11-dihydro- 6H-pyrido[2,3-b][1,4]benzodiazepin-6-one) blocked both the inhibitory and stimulatory effects of carbachol, but atropine and 4-DAMP were more potent in blocking the inhibitory than the stimulatory effects of carbachol, whereas the reverse was true for AF-DX 116. McN-A-343 (4-hydroxy-2-butynyl)trimethylammonium chloride, m-chlorocarbanilate) and 12 other muscarinic receptor agonists from a variety of chemical classes also produced concentration-dependent decreases in twitch-height. The log IC50s of the muscarinic receptor agonists for decreasing twitch-height were highly correlated with their log Kis for inhibiting [3H]pirenzepine (r = 0.96) and [3H]oxotremorine-M (r = 0.85) binding in rat hippocampal membranes. The present results demonstrate that the muscarinic M1 receptor mediating inhibition of twitch-height in the rabbit vas deferens has pharmacologic properties similar to the muscarinic M1 receptor in rat hippocampus.