Development of tolerance to the inhibitory effects of ethanol in the isolated rat vas deferens. Effect of selective agonists and antagonists.
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.
DeTurck
K H
KH
Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J.
Pohorecky
L A
LA
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
D010643:Phenoxybenzamine; D009270:Naloxone; D000431:Ethanol; D000241:Adenosine; D010646:Phentolamine