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5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and the selective alpha-1 agonists phenylephrine (PE) and oxymetazoline (OXY), were used to study the effects of simultaneous coactivation of the 5-HT2 and alpha-1 adrenergic receptors, respectively, on the contractile responses of isolated rat aortic rings. Dissociation constants (KA) were determined for each of the agonists at their respective receptor subtypes. The KA values for PE and OXY at the alpha-1 receptor were 316 nM and 1.82 microM, respectively, while the KA for 5-HT at the 5-HT2 receptor was 478 nM. Concentration-response curves for each agonist were analyzed by the Black and Leff operational model of pharmacological agonism to determine efficacy (tau) and slope factor values. The estimated tau for PE (16.02) was much greater than the tau for either OXY (4.15) or 5-HT (2.95), which had similar efficacies. Using a previously described drug concentration paradigm, a mutual-effect amplification of the 5-HT-induced contractile response was observed with mixtures of 5-HT and PE, whereas mixtures of OXY and 5-HT elicited a mutual-effect amplification of the observed response to OXY alone. In both cases, the theoretical concentration-response curve constructed using the Poch and Holzmann method of equiactive substitution demonstrated that mutual-effect amplification was largely the result of simple additivity of agonist effects. In addition, estimates of tau and slope factor determined from the Black and Leff equation were substituted into the Leff model of mutual-effect amplification and used to accurately predict the location of the concentration-response curves elicited by mixtures of 5-HT and PE, as well as mixtures of OXY and 5-HT. This represents the first time a mathematical model has been used to accurately predict the outcome of coactivation of the alpha-1 and 5-HT2 receptors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methyl-amphetamine (DOM) are potent agonists on isolated ovine uterine arteries in late pregnancy. Similar pA2 values (8.56 and 8.33, respectively) of ketanserin, tested against 5-HT and DOM, indicate that responses produced by both agonists are mediated by the 5-HT2 receptor. The contractions produced by 8-OH-DPAT and 2-methyl-5-HT were also blocked by ketanserin (10(-8) M) with the dissociation constants (KB) being 2.49 and 2.88 nM, respectively. This provides evidence that these agonists are activating 5-HT2 receptors in the ovine uterine artery. DOM was more potent than 5-HT, but had a similar efficacy to that of 5-HT. The greater affinity of DOM may explain its greater potency. The dissociation constants (KA) of 5-HT and DOM acting on 5-HT receptors were determined by analysis of concentration-response data before and after fractional inactivation of receptors with dibenamine. The mean KA values for 5-HT and DOM were 3.7 +/- 0.7 x 10(-7) and 1.8 +/- 0.3 x 10(-7) M, respectively. Assessment of receptor occupancy vs. functional response demonstrated little or no receptor reserve in this tissue. Several other 5-HT receptor agonists caused contractions but were much less potent than 5-HT. The order of potency of these agonists was determined to be DOM greater than 5-HT greater than or equal to alpha-methyl-5-HT much greater than 8-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetralin (8-OH-DPAT) greater than 2-methyl-5-HT greater than 1-(3-chlorophenyl) piperazine (mCPP) greater than m-trifluoromethyl-phenylpiperazine (TFMPP).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) stimulates the accumulation of inositol-trisphosphate in WRK1 cells, a cell line originating from a rat mammary tumor. 5-HT acts via a single receptor type for which it has an affinity constant estimated to be 1.27 microM. A series of agonists known to act at 5-HT2 receptors are partial agonists in this system and have a rank order of relative intrinsic efficacies corresponding to that seen in other systems possessing 5-HT2 receptors. There is an essentially linear occupancy-response relationship for 5-HT and other agonists indicating the absence of a strong amplification mechanism between receptor activation and inositol phosphate formation. The selective blockade of the 5-HT response by nanomolar concentrations of 5-HT2 selective antagonists but not by drugs acting at other 5-HT receptor subtypes suggest that the receptor in WRK1 cells is of the 5-HT2 type. Additionally, we demonstrate that in WRK1 membranes 5-HT acts via the 5-HT2 receptor to elicit a GTP dependent increase in the production of inositol-bisphosphate and inositol-trisphosphate. These properties of the WRK1 cell line indicate that it is a useful model with which to study the nature of 5-HT receptor coupling to the putative second messenger(s), the inositol phosphates.

This study investigates the interactive effects of Ca antagonists and responses to serotonin (5-HT) in isolated rabbit aorta and basilar artery. Isolated strips of rabbit aorta and of basilar artery were studied in organ baths containing 20 ml of Krebs-buffer solution. D 600 or diltiazem caused parallel rightward shifts of concentration-response curves for 5-HT in isolated rabbit aorta, but each reduced the 5-HT-induced maximum response in basilar artery. The slope values from Schild plot analyses in aorta were 1.11 +/- 0.05 and 1.22 +/- 0.37 in D 600 and diltiazem, respectively. Dibenamine pretreatment caused reduction of maximum response to 5-HT in both tissues. Such reduction was diminished markedly by the presence of D 600, diltiazem or 5-HT in aorta but not in basilar artery. Also, the antagonistic effects of D 600 and diltiazem were diminished by elevation of bath Ca in basilar artery but not in aorta. These results strongly suggest that the two Ca entry blockers used in this study might compete with 5-HT at 5-HT receptors in rabbit aorta and that the pharmacomechanical property of 5-HT receptors in rabbit aorta might be distinct from that in rabbit basilar artery.

Removal of endothelial cells on rings of rat aorta increased the sensitivity to the selective alpha-1 adrenoceptor agonist phenylephrine, to the nonselective alpha adrenoceptor agonist norepinephrine and to the selective alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist clonidine. In the case of the first two, which are strong agonists for the alpha-1 adrenoceptor-mediating contraction, removal of endothelium increased sensitivity 4- and 6-fold at the EC30 level, but produced little or no increase in maximum. In the case of clonidine, a partial agonist for the alpha-1 adrenoceptor, which gave only about 15% of the maximum given by phenylephrine on endothelium-containing rings, removal of the endothelium not only shifted the curve to the left but also increased the maximum to about 50% of that given by phenylephrine. The depression of sensitivity to these agonists in rings with endothelium appeared to be due to the vasodepressor action of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), as hemoglobin, a specific blocking agent of EDRF, abolished this depression. It is unlikely that the endothelium-dependent depression was due to stimulation of release of EDRF, because clonidine did not produce endothelium-dependent relaxation in precontracted rings even when its contractile action was blocked by the alpha-1 adrenoceptor antagonist prazosin. Further evidence against alpha adrenoceptor agents stimulating release of EDRF was that neither phenylephrine nor clonidine induced a rise in cyclic GMP in aortic rings, whereas acetylcholine, which does release EDRF, caused a large rise in cyclic GMP content. The possibility that the muscle cells of intact rat aortic rings were under the tonic influence of released EDRF was supported by the finding that, in the absence of any contractile agent, hemoglobin induced a fall in the basal level of cyclic GMP in endothelium-containing rings. Also consistent with EDRF being released spontaneously was the finding that contraction induced by 5-hydroxytryptamine, like that by alpha-adrenergic agonists, was also depressed in endothelium-containing rings of aorta. When the efficacy of phenylephrine as an alpha-1 agonist was reduced to about the initial efficacy of clonidine by irreversible inactivation of a very large fraction of alpha-1 adrenoceptors of the smooth muscle cells by pretreatment with dibenamine, the concentration-contraction curves for phenylephrine for both endothelium-containing rings and for endothelium-denuded rings now became very similar to the corresponding curves obtained for clonidine before receptor inactivation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The accumulation of organic cations and anions by the isolated rabbit choroid plexus was measured and the results were considered in comparison to in vivo measurements of transport using the ventriculocisternal perfusion technique also in rabbits. The accumulation in vitro of 3H-p-aminohippurate (PAH) and 14C-N1-methylnicotinamide (NMN) was shown to be organic anion and cation specific and dependent upon oxidative metabolism since tissue/medium ratios were reduced by competitive inhibitors including dibenamine and mepiperphenidol for cation transport and probenecid for anion transport and were also reduced by cyanide and dinitrophenol. Rabbits pretreated with chlorpromazine and anesthetized with pentobarbital were perfused lateral ventricle to cisterna magna with artificial cerebrospinal fluid containing inulin, 3H-PAH and 14C-NMN. Ratios of concentrations of these substances in the perfusate to those infused were calculated. Significant reductions in the ratios for PAH and NMN compared to unulin were obtained when low rates of perfusion, 40mul/min, were employed with low concentrations of PAH (2 mug/ml) and NMN (0.2 mug/ml). Probenecid (10(-3)M) specifically increased the ratio for PAH without affecting the NMN ratios. Mepiperhenidol (10(-o) M) blocked NMN transport but no PAH. The data and calculated clearances indicate that these prototype anions and cations may be actively transported out of cerebrospinal fluid, but for cations only at a low rate.

Pharmacologic analysis of functional and radioligand binding studies were used to determine whether alterations in adrenergic receptors contribute to the catecholamine supersensitivity observed in the thoracic aorta of aldosterone hypertensive rats (AHR). Adrenergic function was evaluated using receptor-mediated contraction and rate of 42K efflux. The pA2 for phentolamine was the same in AHR (7.9 +/- 0.1 and 8.0 +/- 0.1) and control (7.9 +/- 0.2 and 8.1 +/- 0.1) rats whether measured by contraction or 42K efflux. The pA2 value for the selective alpha-1 antagonist prazosin (9.8 +/- 0.1 to 10.7 +/- 0.2) and the alpha-2 antagonist yohimbine (6.6 +/- 0.2 to 7.4 +/- 0.2) was similar in AHR and control groups using both norepinephrine and phenylephrine as agonists. The rank order of potency was prazosin greater than phentolamine greater than yohimbine in both groups. The KD for [3H]prazosin binding to AHR (26 +/- 3 pM) and control tissue (34 +/- 6 pM) agreed with the prazosin KB obtained by measurements of contraction and 42K efflux. The alpha-1 receptor density was also unaltered: 39 +/- 1 fmol/mg in AHR and 44 +/- 3 fmol/mg in control. Assessment of the NE dissociation constant (Ka) by method of fractional receptor inactivation indicated that the Ka was 4.8 X 10(-7) M in both AHR and control tissues. However, at the same receptor occupancy, the NE-induced increase in 42K efflux was elevated markedly in aorta from AHR. We conclude that alteration in adrenergic receptor density, affinity or type is not the cause of catecholamine supersensitivity in the aorta from AHR and that postreceptor events mediate this phenomenon.