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Contraction-mediating α2-adrenoceptors in the mouse vas deferens

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Summary

The question of the existence of postjunctional, contraction-mediating α2-adrenoceptors, in addition to the known α1-adrenoceptors, was studied in the mouse isolated vas deferens. Both the α1-selective agonist phenylephrine and the α2-selective agonist 5-bromo-6-(2imidazolin-2-ylamino)-quinoxaline (UK 14,304) caused contraction of the vas deferens. In the presence of the α1-selective antagonist prazosin (added in order to prevent an α1 component in the effect of high concentrations of UK 14,304), the α2-selective antagonists yohimbine and idazoxan shifted the concentration—response curve of UK 14,304 to the right in a manner compatible with competitive antagonism and with dissociation constants KB indicating the involvement of α2-adrenoceptors. The maximal contraction elicited by UK 14,304 (in the presence of prazosin) was much lower than the maximal contraction elicited by phenylephrine. The effect of UK 14,304 was not changed by the P2-purinoceptor agonist α,β-methylene-ATP and was reduced by neuropeptideY, but was markedly enhanced by relatively low concentrations of phenylephrine. When the sympathetic fibres of the vas deferens were stimulated by trains of ten widely spaced (0.5 Hz) electric pulses, the tissue responded with ten separate twitches in which purinergic and adrenergic components were isolated by prazosin and suramin, respectively. Prazosin reduced the first adrenergic twitch in these trains at concentrations close to its KB value at α1-adrenoceptors, whereas yohimbine and idazoxan reduced the first adrenergic twitch at concentrations far lower than their KB values at α1-adrenoceptors. The results indicate that the smooth muscle of the mouse vas deferens possesses contraction-mediating α2-adrenoceptors. They are activated by UK 14,304 and probably also by noradrenaline of neural origin. Responses mediated by the α2-adrenoceptors are enhanced by simultaneous α1-receptor activation, an interaction that may increase the contribution of the α2-adrenoceptors to the adrenergic phase of neurogenic contractions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pharmakologisches Institut, Hermann-Herder-Strasse 5, W-7800, Freiburg i. Br., Germany

    Ralph Bültmann, Ivar von Kügelgen & Klaus Starke

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  1. Ralph Bültmann
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  2. Ivar von Kügelgen
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  3. Klaus Starke
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Bültmann, R., von Kügelgen, I. & Starke, K. Contraction-mediating α2-adrenoceptors in the mouse vas deferens. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 343, 623–632 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00184294

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00184294

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