Effect of beta-adrenergic antagonists on bioluminescence control in three species of brittlestars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea).
The role of adrenaline in the nervous control of bioluminescence in three brittlestar species, Amphiura filiformis, Amphipholis squamata, and Ophiopsila aranea, was assessed by testing two different beta-adrenergic antagonists (propranolol and labetalol) over a wide concentration range (10(-10)-10(-3)M). We compared the effects of analogues (active vs. inactive) of the same substance (L- and D-enantiomers of propranolol). Propranolol presented both specific and nonspecific effects: (i) nonspecific effects were observed at the higher concentrations tested (10(-4) and 10(-3)M) in all three species; (ii) specific effects were detected only at the lower concentrations tested (10(-6)-10(-5)M). In A. squamata, the involvement of adrenaline in the nervous control of luminescence is supported by propranolol and labetolol specific inhibition. The neuropharmacological implications of nonspecific effects, the involvement of adrenaline and the interspecific differences in the brittlestar nervous control of bioluminescence are discussed.
Laboratory of Marine Biology and Biodiversity Research Centre, Université catholique de Louvain, Bâtiment Kellner, 3 Place Croix du Sud, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. dupont@bani.ucl.ac.be
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Dupont
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Mallefet
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Vanderlinden
D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004447:Echinodermata / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000502:physiology; D007741:Labetalol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D049449:Luminescence; D011189:Potassium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D011433:Propranolol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013045:Species Specificity
D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D011189:Potassium Chloride; D011433:Propranolol; D007741:Labetalol; D004837:Epinephrine