title: Development of tolerance to the inhibitory effects of ethanol in the isolated rat vas deferens. Effect of selective agonists and antagonists.
abstract: Our previous experiments demonstrated that chronic ethanol treatment of rats produces tolerance to the in vitro inhibitory effects of ethanol on norepinephrine-, KCl-, and electrically evoked contractions of the vas deferens. In the present study, ethanol dependence also resulted in subsensitivity of the vas to the effects induced by alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist clonidine, the alpha-receptor antagonists phentolamine and phenoxybenzamine, as well as to adenosine and naloxone. These results indicate that the biochemical mechanisms of ethanol express themselves at both the pre- and postjunctional level involved in the modulation of neurotransmission in the rat vas deferens.
authors: Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J.
authors: K H
authors: KH
authors: DeTurck
authors: L A
authors: LA
authors: Pohorecky
mesh_terms: D000241:Adenosine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D004361:Drug Tolerance; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000187:drug effects*; D009270:Naloxone / Q000494:pharmacology; D010643:Phenoxybenzamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D010646:Phentolamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014649:Vas Deferens / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D010643:Phenoxybenzamine; D009270:Naloxone; D000431:Ethanol; D000241:Adenosine; D010646:Phentolamine