Abstract
The present study was undertaken to analyse the relationship between postnatal development of vascular β2-adrenoceptor-mediated responses and the content of adrenaline in the adrenal gland and its concentration in plasma. Dog saphenous vein tissue from newborn, two-weeks old and adult animals were either preloaded with 3H-noradrenaline (or 3H-adrenaline) to study prejunctional β-adrenoceptor-mediated effects or mounted in organ baths to determine isoprenaline-induced relaxation of preparations contracted by phenylephrine to about 65010 of the maximum. The adrenal glands and samples of blood from the same animals were taken for estimation of adrenaline and noradrenaline.
At birth, there were no β-adrenoceptor-mediated effects pre- or postjunctionally. At two weeks, while the results at the prejunctional level were not significantly different from those obtained in newborns, at the postjunctional level there was a relaxant response to isoprenaline, which antagonised about 35010 of the previous contraction to 1.75 μmol·l−1 phenylephrine. In adults, isoprenaline (50 nmol·l−1) increased by 24% tritium overflow evoked by electrical stimulation of tissues preloaded with 3H-noradrenaline but not that of tissues preloaded with 3H-adrenaline. On the other hand, propranolol (1 μmol·l−1) reduced by 21% the overflow of tritium evoked by electrical stimulation of tissues preloaded with 3H-adrenaline but not that of tissues preloaded with 3H-noradrenaline; postjunctionally, the maximal response to isoprenaline antagonised 70% of the previous contraction to 1.75 μmol·l−1 phenylephrine.
At birth the catecholamine content of the adrenals was relatively low (2.9 μol·g−1) and the adrenaline/noradrenaline ratio was 0.26; two weeks later, the catecholamine content was 14.5 μmol·g-1and the adrenaline/noradrenaline ratio was 0.74; in adults, the catecholamine content was 24.5 μmol·g−1 and the adrenaline/noradrenaline ratio was 2.3. In plasma, the highest concentration of adrenaline was observed at birth (11.8 nmol·l−1); two weeks later it was 5.5 nmol·l−1 and in adulthood it fell to 3.1 nmol·l−1.
On the basis of these results, it is concluded that some link between the postnatal increase in adrenaline adrenal content and the development of β2-adrenoceptor-mediated pre- and postjunctional effects may exist. Additionally it is suggested that circulating adrenaline may trigger the development of β2-adrenoceptor-mediated responses as well as some hypertensive states occurring as a consequence of an overreactivity of the sympathoadrenal system.
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Correspondence to: S. Guimarães at the above address
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Paiva, M.Q., Moura, D., Vaz-da-Silva, M.J. et al. Postnatal development of vascular β-adrenoceptor-mediated responses and the increase in the adrenaline content of the adrenal gland have a parallel time course. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 350, 28–33 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00180007
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00180007