title: Positive and negative contractile effects of neuropeptide Y on ventricular cardiomyocytes.
abstract: The potency of neuropeptide Y (NPY) to cause negative and positive contractile responses in rat ventricular cardiomyocytes was investigated. In these cells, NPY was found to activate the transient outward K+ current (Ito) and the slow inward Ca2+ current (Isi). As reported before (H. M. Piper, B. C. Millar, and J. R. McDermott, Naunyn Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 340: 333-337, 1989), NPY attenuated the increase in the contractile response induced by isoprenaline (10(-7) M). This effect of NPY could be abolished by 1) the presence of the inhibitor of Ito, 4-aminopyridine (4-AP, 0.5 mM); 2) pretreatment of the cells with pertussis toxin (1 microgram/ml for 6 h); and 3) the presence of the 19-amino acid COOH-terminal fragment of NPY, NPY-(18-36) (10(-6) M). In the absence of isoprenaline, but in the presence of 4-AP, NPY exerted a stimulatory effect on the cardiomyocytes. This effect could be abolished 1) by using the inhibitor of the Isi, verapamil (10(-8) M), but not 2) by pretreatment with pertussis toxin, nor 3) by coincubation with NPY-(18-36). The results indicate that in the rat the antiadrenergic negative contractile effect of NPY results from its action on the Ito. Blockade of this current by 4-AP unmasks a positive contractile effect of NPY that is related to activation of the Isi.
authors.affiliation: Department of Therapeutics and Pharmacology, Queen's University of Belfast, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Millar
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Weis
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Piper
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Borchard
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balasubramaniam
mesh_terms: D015761:4-Aminopyridine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000166:cytology; D007545:Isoproterenol / Q000494:pharmacology; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D009478:Neuropeptide Y / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000494:pharmacology; D037342:Pertussis Toxin; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D016276:Ventricular Function; D014700:Verapamil / Q000494:pharmacology; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D015221:Potassium Channels; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella; D015761:4-Aminopyridine; D014700:Verapamil; D037342:Pertussis Toxin; D007545:Isoproterenol