title: Contribution of spinal dopamine receptors to the hypotensive action of bromocriptine in rats.
abstract: Bromocriptine, a dopamine (DA) receptor agonist, has been reported to have hypotensive effects in anesthetized and conscious normotensive rats but its mechanism of action is still not fully understood. Therefore, we studied the changes in mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) elicited by an intravenous (i.v.) administration of bromocriptine (150 micrograms/kg), in either pentobarbital-anesthetized or conscious normotensive rats, pretreated with either i.v. (0.3 mg/kg) or intrathecal (i.t.) (93 nmol) domperidone, a DA receptor antagonist that does not cross the blood-brain barrier. In these preparations, i.v. administration of bromocriptine elicited dose-dependent decreases in MAP and rises in HR. The hypotensive effect was antagonized partially by i.t. and fully by i.v. domperidone. However, the latter compound did not modify the tachycardia, which could be blocked by propranolol (0.5 mg/kg i.v.). In rats pretreated with the latter beta-adrenoceptor antagonist, bromocriptine produced only a decrease in blood pressure that was inhibited by i.v. and i.t. domperidone. These results suggest that, in anesthetized and conscious normotensive rats, the hypotension induced by systemic administration of bromocriptine is fully mediated by DA2 dopamine receptors, which are located partly within the spinal cord and partly in the peripheral circulation.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physiologie Pharmacologie II, URA CNRS 1287, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lahlou
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Demenge
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia; D000818:Animals; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D001971:Bromocriptine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004294:Domperidone / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007278:Injections, Spinal; D008297:Male; D010424:Pentobarbital; D011433:Propranolol / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D001971:Bromocriptine; D004294:Domperidone; D011433:Propranolol; D010424:Pentobarbital