Neurocrine, endocrine, and paracrine regulators are critical to the control of colonic secretion. These studies have investigated the inhibition of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-stimulated ion transport by peptide YY (PYY) and other Y-class effectors in rabbit distal colonic mucosa mounted in Ussing chambers. PYY decreased basal short-circuit current (Isc) but did not significantly change either basal Na+ or Cl- flux. PYY inhibited VIP-stimulated increases in Isc by up to 86% and abolished VIP-induced Cl- secretion. PYY decreased VIP-generated increases in Isc by a tetrodotoxin-insensitive mechanism. PYY inhibited cholera toxin-stimulated as well as forskolin-stimulated increases in Isc but failed to alter stimulation by 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8-BrcAMP). PYY decreased VIP-stimulated increases in tissue cAMP by 88% and forskolin-stimulated increases by 84%. PYY, neuropeptide Y (NPY), (Leu31,Pro34)-NPY, and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) all demonstrated potent inhibition of VIP-stimulated increases in Isc. PYY-(13-36) demonstrated little effect on VIP stimulation. Thus the rabbit distal colon possesses a novel Y-class receptor phenotype that demonstrates high affinity for all three PP-fold peptides, NPY, PYY, and PP.