title: Purinergic and adrenergic cotransmission in canine isolated and perfused gastroepiploic arteries.
abstract: 1. The vasoconstrictor responses of canine gastroepiploic artery to periarterial electrical nerve stimulation (PNS; 30 s trains of pulses at a frequency of 2, 4 or 8 Hz) were observed in a frequency dependent manner. The PNS-induced vasoconstrictions were abolished by tetrodotoxin (1 micromol/L) and mostly depressed but not completely by guanethidine (10 micromol/L). 2. Vasoconstrictor responses to administered noradrenaline were antagonized significantly by prazosin (0.1 micromol/L), an alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonist, but were not significantly affected by suramin (100 micromol/L), a P2 purinoceptor antagonist, or alpha,beta-methylene ATP (1 micromol/L), a P2X receptor desensitizing agent. Exogenous ATP-induced responses were clearly depressed by suramin or alpha,beta-methylene ATP, but were not significantly affected by prazosin. 3. The vasoconstrictor responses to PNS at a low frequency (2 and 4 Hz) of stimulation were markedly inhibited by suramin (100 micromol/L) and by alpha,beta-methylene ATP (1 micromol/L). The remaining responses after suramin or alpha,beta-methylene ATP were abolished by subsequent application of prazosin (0.1 micromol/L). At a high frequency (8 Hz) of stimulation, the vascular response was not significantly inhibited by suramin or alpha,beta-methylene ATP, but it was abolished by prazosin. 4. Injection of xylazine (0.3-30 nmol/L), an alpha2-adrenoceptor agonist, did not induce any clear vasoconstriction. The exposure of tissues to rauwolscine (0.1-0.3 micromol/L), an alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonist, dose-dependently increased PNS-induced vasoconstrictions at all frequencies tested. 5. The present results indicate that ATP acts as a cotransmitter with noradrenaline and is responsible for post-junctional vasoconstrictor responses at low frequencies of sitmulation, whereas the effect of noradrenaline is dominant at high-frequency stimulation in canine gastroepiploic artery. Prejunctional alpha2-adrenoceptor autoinhibition may modulate the release of either noradrenaline or ATP from sympathetic nerve terminals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Xiao-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Shigetoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiba
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D024405:Gastroepiploic Artery / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D010477:Perfusion; D058913:Purinergic Agonists; D011941:Receptors, Adrenergic / Q000502:physiology*; D011983:Receptors, Purinergic / Q000502:physiology*; D014661:Vasoconstriction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D058913:Purinergic Agonists; D011941:Receptors, Adrenergic; D011983:Receptors, Purinergic; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D009638:Norepinephrine