In vitro adrenergic and cholinergic innervation of the developing rat myocyte.
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We studied the development of selective adrenergic and cholinergic neuroeffector transmission in primary cultures of isolated ventricular muscle cells. Explants of either thoracolumbar sympathetic ganglia or sacrococcygeal spinal cord were added to newborn rat ventricular cultures harvested prior to the onset of in vivo autonomic innervation. Neuronal growth, migration, and the formation of neuromuscular junctions were observed with light and scanning electron microscopy. Glyoxylic acid histofluorescence, reflecting catecholamine synthesis, was found in only the sympathetic neuromuscular cultures. Choline acetyltransferase activity was detected in both spinal cord and sympathetic neuromuscular cultures, but was significantly higher in the spinal cord neuromuscular cultures. The isolated ventricular muscle cells remained at a constant spontaneous contraction frequency, regardless of the type of culture preparation. Guanethidine sulfate application produced a positive chronotropic response, blocked by propranolol, in the sympathetic neuromuscular cultures, but not in the spinal cord neuromuscular cultures. Bethanechol sulfate produced a negative chronotropic response, blocked by atropine, in the spinal cord neuromuscular cultures, but not in the sympathetic neuromuscular cultures. Isolated ventricular muscle cells in the absence of neurons failed to respond to either agent. Direct microelectrode stimulation of adrenergic or cholinergic neurons likewise respectively produced either a positive or negative ventricular muscle cell chronotropic response. These studies are the first to establish the selective production of functional cholinergic and adrenergic innervation of isolated cardiac muscle cells in vitro. (+info)
Electrical and mechanical activity recorded from rabbit urinary bladder in response to nerve stimulation.
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Responses of the smooth muscle membrane of the rabbit bladder to intramuscular nerve stimulation were investigated by the micro-electrode and double sucrose-gap methods. The cell generated regular spontaneous action potentials. Acetylcholine produced a maintained increase in the frequency and ATP a transient increase. Noradrenaline only increased the frequency at very high concentrations. Application of short current pulses (50 microseconds) produced an initial excitatory junction potential (e.j.p.) with a superimposed spike, followed by a late depolarization. On some occasions, hyperpolarization of the membrane appeared between initial e.j.p. and the late depolarization. All these responses were abolished by tetrodotoxin. The late depolarization was enhanced by pre-treatment with neostigmine and abolished by atropine. This means that the delayed depolarization is due to activation of the muscarinic receptor. When the late depolarization was abolished, the amplitude of hyperpolarization was enhanced. The e.j.p. and contraction were unaffected by guanethidine, phentolamine, methysergide, mepyramine, quinidine or theophylline. This means that the e.j.p. is not mediated by activation of adrenergic, tryptaminergic, histaminergic or purinergic receptors. ATP reduced the amplitude of the e.j.p. due to depolarization of the membrane and reduction in the membrane resistance. The amplitude of the e.j.p. was gradually reduced by repetitive stimulation (0.5-2.0 Hz). However, the rate of depression was unchanged in the presence of ATP. Dipyridamole did not change the electrical and mechanical responses to field stimulation. These results do not support the proposal that ATP is the non-cholinergic excitatory transmitter. Apamine and tetraethylammonium (TEA) suppressed the hyperpolarization produced by field stimulation but guanethidine did not inhibit the hyperpolarization. Therefore, the hyperpolarization is due to increased K conductance of the membrane but it is not possible to conclude whether this component is due to the inhibitory action of a neurotransmitter or solely to after hyperpolarization of the spike. It was concluded that the rabbit bladder receives both cholinergic and noncholinergic excitatory neurones. (+info)
Changes in the levels of inositol phosphates after agonist-dependent hydrolysis of membrane phosphoinositides.
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The formation of inositol phosphates in response to agonists was studied in brain slices, parotid gland fragments and in the insect salivary gland. The tissues were first incubated with [3H]inositol, which was incorporated into the phosphoinositides. All the tissues were found to contain glycerophosphoinositol, inositol 1-phosphate, inositol 1,4-bisphosphate and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, which were identified by using anion-exchange and high-resolution anion-exchange chromatography, high-voltage paper ionophoresis and paper chromatography. There was no evidence for the existence of inositol 1:2-cyclic phosphate. A simple anion-exchange chromatographic method was developed for separating these inositol phosphates for quantitative analysis. Stimulation caused no change in the levels of glycerophosphoinositol in any of the tissues. The most prominent change concerned inositol 1,4-bisphosphate, which increased enormously in the insect salivary gland and parotid gland after stimulation with 5-hydroxytryptamine and carbachol respectively. Carbachol also induced a large increase in the level of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate in the parotid. Stimulation of brain slices with carbachol induced modest increase in the bis- and tris-phosphate. In all the tissues studied, there was a significant agonist-dependent increase in the level of inositol 1-phosphate. The latter may be derived from inositol 1,4-bisphosphate, because homogenates of the insect salivary gland contain a bisphosphatase in addition to a trisphosphatase. These results suggest that the earliest event in the stimulus-response pathway is the hydrolysis of polyphosphoinositides by a phosphodiesterase to yield inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and inositol 1,4-bisphosphate, which are subsequently hydrolysed to inositol 1-phosphate and inositol. The absence of inositol 1:2-cyclic phosphate could indicate that, at very short times after stimulation, phosphatidylinositol is not catabolized by its specific phosphodiesterase, or that any cyclic derivative liberated is rapidly hydrolysed by inositol 1:2-cyclic phosphate 2-phosphohydrolase. (+info)
Is there a serotonin-induced hypertensive coronary chemoreflex in the nonhuman primate?
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of the serotonin-induced coronary chemoreflex in the conscious monkey. Ten chronically prepared and four acute monkeys were used in this study. Five chronically prepared animals had catheters in the left atrium, ascending aorta, descending aorta, and, bilaterally, in the common carotid arteries. In addition, Silastic catheters were placed next to both vagi to permit vagal block with 2% lidocaine. Serotonin was injected (12-200 micrograms/kg) into the left atrium, ascending aorta, descending aorta, or, bilaterally, into the carotid arteries while blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory movements were recorded. Injections of serotonin were associated with hypertension and bradycardia followed by tachycardia, all of which were preceded by a cough response. Atropine blocked the bradycardia, whereas atropine and phentolamine eliminated the cardiovascular components of the reflex. Vagal blockade eliminated the bradycardia but otherwise did not alter the response to left atrial serotonin. Three monkeys were prepared with aortic and left atrial catheters. Subsequently, they were subjected to sinoaortic deafferentation. Serotonin injected into these animals did not alter blood pressure or respiration. The results of this study show that serotonin injected into the left atrium of the conscious monkey produces respiratory and cardiovascular alterations by its effect on aortic and carotid chemoreceptors, and that there is no coronary chemoreflex in the conscious monkey. (+info)
Post-natal change and regional variation of the response of the vas deferens of new-born rats to autonomic drugs.
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The vas deferens isolated from rats of different ages (11-60 d old) was bisected to provide an epididymal and a prostatic half. The contractile responses of both halves to potassium ions, adrenergic agents (noradrenaline, isoprenaline and tyramine), cholinergic agents (acetylcholine, methacholine and tetramethylammonium), histamine and serotonin were measured. The response to 150 mM potassium, which was regarded as an approximate measure of full contractility of the preparation, increased in parallel with the organ weight. Most of the agonists could induce the full contractility in both halves until 3-4 weeks of age, but thereafter they could produce only smaller responses than the full contractility in either or both halves, resulting in a differentiation of the halves in the response to agonists. A regional variation of the post-natal development of alpha-adrenergic, muscarinic and nicotinic responses is discussed. (+info)
Effect of limb ischaemia on blood pressure and the blood pressure-heart rate reflex in the rat.
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The effects of bilateral hind-limb ischaemia on blood pressure and on the blood pressure-heart rate reflex have been studied in the rat. Limb ischaemia increased blood pressure and decreased the elevation and slope of the regression line describing the relationship between heart period (H.P.) and mean arterial pressure (M.A.P.). Nociceptive afferents from muscle receptors using long fibre tracts in the anterolateral part of the spinal cord seem to be responsible for the changes seen. The changes in the blood pressure-heart rate reflex were mediated by a combination of vagal inhibition and sympathetic activation. The efferent pathway for the pressor effect was in the sympathetic outflow. Central catecholaminergic neurones were involved in the pressor effect of limb ischaemia but not in the changes in the blood pressure-heart rate reflex. Electrolytic lesions in the posterior hypothalamus attenuated the inhibition of the reflex and it is suggested that neurones in the defence area may be activated by limb ischaemia. The interaction between limb ischaemia and the H.P.-M.A.P. relationship was not affected by opioid antagonists. After the period of ischaemia there was an increase in the elevation of the regression line describing the relationship between H.P. and M.A.P. which was secondary to the fall in body temperature characteristic of this phase of the response to injury. (+info)
Effects of autonomic drugs on contractions of rat seminal vesicles in vivo.
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Various autonomic drugs were placed on the peritoneal covering of the seminal vesicles of anaesthetized rats. Adrenaline (which stimulates the alpha-, beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors) and phenylephrine (an alpha-stimulating agent) produced a sudden increase in tonus and in the amplitude and frequency of contractions. Phentolamine (an alpha-blocker) prevented these effects, whereas propranolol (a beta 1- and beta 2-blocker) did not. Phentolamine also abolished the seminal vesicle response to electrical stimulations. Terbutaline (a beta 2-stimulating agent) did not affect the spontaneous activity. There were no differences between the effects of terbutaline alone and those of terbutaline in the presence of propranolol. Moreover, propranolol did not block the contractile response of the gland to adrenaline or to electrical stimulation. These results indicate that alpha-adrenergic receptors are present in the muscle cell membrane of the rat seminal vesicle. The effects of acetylcholine were similar to those produced by adrenaline or phenylephrine although of smaller magnitude. Atropine prevented the effects of acetylcholine, indicating that they are of the muscarinic type. (+info)
Behavior of left ventricular mechanoreceptors with myelinated and nonmyelinated afferent vagal fibers in cats.
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The purpose of this study was to determine the behavior of left ventricular mechanoreceptors with myelinated vagal afferents and to compare them with endings with nonmyelinated vagal afferents. Single unit activity was recorded from 13 endings with nonmyelinated vagal afferents (conduction velocity 2.1 +/- 0.3 m/sec) and from 16 endings with myelinated vagal afferents (conduction velocity 7.3 +/- 1.3 m/sec). Resting discharge frequencies of nonmyelinated afferents and of myelinated vagal afferents were 1.7 +/- 0.3 and 2.7 +/- 0.5 imp/sec (P less than 0.1), respectively (at left ventricular end diastolic pressure of 6 mm Hg for both groups). Ten of 16 myelinated vagal afferents had pulse synchronous discharge under basal condition, whereas only 3 of 13 nonmyelinated vagal afferents had such activity. During aortic occlusion, the discharge of myelinated vagal afferents increased 1.7 +/- 0.3 imp/sec per mm Hg, whereas nonmyelinated vagal afferents increased significantly (P less than 0.05) less (0.5 +/- 0.1 imp/sec per mm Hg). Discharge for both groups was linearly related to left ventricular end-diastolic pressure but not to left ventricular systolic pressure. Increases in left ventricular systolic pressure alone did not increase firing for either group. During aortic occlusion, the maximum discharge rates of myelinated vagal afferents (43 +/- 7 imp/sec) were significantly higher than those of nonmyelinated vagal afferents (14 +/- 3 imp/sec) at left ventricular end-diastolic pressure of 30 +/- 2 and 24 +/- 2 mm Hg, respectively. Both groups increased their discharge during volume expansion with myelinated vagal afferents showing greater sensitivity than nonmyelinated vagal afferents. All endings studied were in the inferoposterior wall of the left ventricle. All nonmyelinated vagal afferents were in or near the epicardium. In contrast, myelinated vagal afferents were equally distributed between the endocardium and the epicardium. Myelinated vagal afferents had discrete receptive fields (1-2 mm2) whereas those of nonmyelinated vagal afferents were much larger (1 cm2). In conclusion, the discharge of left ventricular endings with nonmyelinated vagal afferents and myelinated vagal afferents both appear to be determined mainly by changes in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure. They may be located at different depths in the left ventricular wall. Myelinated vagal afferents have greater sensitivity and maximum firing frequencies than nonmyelinated vagal afferents. (+info)