Cardiac responses after norepinephrine-induced ventricular hypertrophy in rats.

The increase in norepinephrine (NE) blood levels in human heart failure correlates with prognosis. In this study, we determined whether continuous NE infusion alters the positive inotropic and chronotropic responses of isolated rat cardiac muscles. Osmotic minipumps were implanted subcutaneously (s.c.) in 43 adult male rats to deliver NE (160 micrograms/kg/h for 14 days); 42 rats were sham-operated. Isolated left and right atria and left and right ventricular (LV, RV) papillary muscles were prepared to measure positive inotropic or chronotropic responses to NE, phenylephrine, forskolin, dibutyryl cyclicAMP (dbcyclicAMP), and calcium chloride. NE infusion caused (a) a 22% increase in LV wet weight without altering atrial or RV wet weights; (b) an 18% decrease in maximal inotropic response to calcium chloride in LV papillary muscles only; (c) a significantly decreased peak response to NE [72 +/- 5 vs. 93 +/- 5% (sham rats) of calcium chloride] but not to forskolin or dbcyclicAMP in RV papillary muscles; (d) an increased incidence of ectopy at low concentrations of NE, forskolin, and dbcyclicAMP in LV papillary muscles; (e) no alteration in papillary muscle responses to phenylephrine but significantly increased left atrial inotropic responses [51 +/- 5 vs. 33 +/- 2% (sham rats) of calcium chloride] and right atrial chronotropic responses [30 +/- 2 vs. 18 +/- 4 (sham rats) beats/min]; and (f) a selective decrease in beta 1-adrenoceptor density in both ventricles. Thus, NE infusion causes selective LV hypertrophy; responses of compounds that increase intracellular cyclicAMP are affected to a greater extent in papillary muscles from the hypertrophied ventricle than in tissues from the other chambers of the heart.     

Pharmacology of LY195115, a potent, orally active cardiotonic with a long duration of action

Compound LY195115 is a novel cardiotonic with both inotropic and vasodilator activities. In cat papillary muscles, LY195115 increased contractility in a concentration-dependent manner; its actions were not blocked by either prazosin or propranolol. An intravenous dose of 7.0 micrograms/kg LY195115 resulted in a 50% increase in contractility in anesthetized dogs; comparable inotropic responses were observed in anesthetized cats receiving 10 micrograms/kg i.v. These doses of LY195115 increased heart rates of both dogs and cats by less than 10%. Oral administration of 25 micrograms/kg to conscious dogs was associated with a selective inotropic response that was maximal at 3 h and maintained in excess of 23 h. This effect was not accompanied by gross behavioral changes or emesis. The hemodynamic profile of LY195115 was evaluated in anesthetized beagle dogs. A 60-min infusion of 1.0 microgram/kg/min LY195115 followed by a 5-min infusion of 10 micrograms/kg/min resulted in dose-dependent increases in contractility (LV dP/dt60) and heart rate; doses that increased LV dP/dt60 by 50% increased heart rate by less than 10%. Doses of greater than 5.0 micrograms/kg decreased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and systemic vascular resistance; mean arterial blood pressure and cardiac output were unchanged. Estimated myocardial oxygen consumption (heart rate times either systolic or mean arterial blood pressure) was not altered by doses as high as 110 micrograms/kg. This balance of inotropic/vasodilator activities may provide a means of improving cardiac function while maintaining myocardial oxygen supply/demand.     

Altered alpha 1-adrenoceptor-mediated responses in atria of rats with chronic left ventricular infarction.

Phosphoinositide (PI) turnover, chronotropic and inotropic responses to alpha 1-adrenoceptor activation, and alpha 1-adrenoceptor density were studied in atria from rats with left ventricular myocardial infarction (LVMI) and noninfarcted rats. LVMI was produced after surgical ligation of the left coronary artery in 8-week-old Wistar rats. Rats were killed 4 weeks after this operation when rats with LVMI had developed significant hypertrophy of both ventricles and atria. Phenylephrine 0.1 mM to 1 mM, with propranolol 0.3 mM, produced a concentration-dependent increase in heart rate (HR) in right atria from noninfarcted rat hearts, and this response was significantly reduced in rats with LVMI. In electrically driven left atria, the concentration-dependent, phenylephrine-induced positive inotropic responses observed with propranolol added were also significantly impaired in rats with LVMI as compared with those of noninfarcted rats. In contrast, neither PI turnover in response to phenylephrine in the presence of propranolol nor alpha 1-adrenoceptor density was reduced in rats with LVMI. These results suggest that the impaired alpha 1-adrenoceptor-induced chronotropic and inotropic responses in atria from rats with LVMI are not due to downregulation of alpha 1-adrenoceptors or to impaired activation of PI turnover after alpha 1-adrenoceptor stimulation, but to impairment of one or more biochemical responses distal to PI hydrolysis or changes in coupling mechanisms other than hydrolysis of PIs.     

Glucagon increases contractility in ventricle but not in atrium of the rat heart

This study evaluates the inotropic responses to glucagon in electrically driven isolated left and right atria as well as in right ventricular strips of rat heart. For comparison, the contractile effects resulting from stimulating beta-adrenoceptors with isoprenaline in atrial and ventricular tissues were also obtained. Glucagon (0.01-1 microM) produces a concentration-dependent positive inotropic effect in ventricular but not in atrial myocardium. Isoprenaline, however, increases contractility both in atrial and ventricular tissues. The nonselective phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor 3-isobutylmethylxantine (IBMX, 10 microM) enhances the contractile effect of glucagon on ventricular myocardium. However, glucagon still failed to increase contractility in atrial myocardium in the presence of 10 microM, IBMX. Also, in left atria of rats pretreated with pertussis toxin, glucagon did not produce any positive inotropic effect, either alone or in the presence of 10 microM, IBMX. Western blotting analysis indicates that glucagon receptors expression is 5 times higher in ventricular than in atrial myocardium. Taken together, these results indicate that the lack of inotropic effect of glucagon in atrium is not due to Gi protein or PDEs activity but seems to be a consequence of a lower glucagon receptor density in this tissue.     

The effects of altered thyroid state upon responses mediated by atrial muscarinic receptors in the rat

Untreated rats, and rats treated with methimazole (0.05% w/v in drinking water) or thyroxine (1 mg/kg, s.c., three times weekly) for 4-6 weeks to induce hypo- and hyperthyroidism respectively, were used to study the influence of thyroid hormone upon negative chronotropic and inotropic responses mediated by cardiac muscarinic receptors, and upon the affinity of these receptors for atropine. Negative chronotropic effects of methacholine were investigated by establishing partial concentration-response curves for isolated preparations of right atria. Methacholine was least potent in tissues from thyroxine-treated rats. Isolated left atria paced at 3 Hz, and spontaneously beating right atria, were used in studies of the negative inotropic effects of methacholine. This agonist was least potent in atria from the thyroxine-treated rats in which it also produced the smallest maximal responses. The negative inotropic effects of carbachol were examined on left atria paced at 3, 5 and 5.8 Hz to approximate the basal contraction rates of isolated right atria from methimazole-treated, untreated control and thyroxine-treated rats, respectively. At each of these frequencies, carbachol was most potent in atria from methimazole-treated rats, and least potent in atria from thyroxine-treated rats. Maximal responses were smallest in the latter group. pA2 values for atropine with methacholine as the agonist were obtained by the method of Arunlakshana & Schild (1959) for spontaneously beating right atria (negative chronotropic and inotropic effects) and left atria paced at 3 Hz (negative inotropic effects).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The effect of atenolol on the cardiovascular system (author's transl)

Effects of atenolol on the cardiovascular system were studied in rats and dogs. Atenolol (10 microgram/kg - 3 mg/kg) did not increase heart rate significantly in rats pretreated with reserpine (5 mg/kg), while a significant increase occurred with practolol (30 microgram/kg - 3 mg/kg). Atenolol (100 microgram/kg) inhibited the response of canine heart (heart rate and myocardial contractile force) to isoproterenol to a similar degree as seen with propranolol (100 microgram/kg) did. The ability of atenolol to inhibit vasodilating action of isoproterenol, however, was about 1/12 of that of propranolol. Atenolol (0.5 mg/kg) did not inhibit hemodynamic responses to ouabain and CaCl2 in dogs, while this drug inhibited these responses to isoproterenol. Atenolol decreased heart rate, myocardial contractile force, left ventricular pressure, and rate of rise of the left ventricular pressure (dp/dt LV max) dose-dependently. Atenolol (1 mg/kg) decreased coronary venous outflow and myocardial oxygen consumption in dogs, but did not alter the myocardium to a more reduced state, as determined by coronary arterial and venous lactate and pyruvate levels. These results confirmed that atenolol is a potent cardioselective beta-blocker devoid of intrinsic sympathomimetic action. The results also suggest that atenolol inhibits cardiac function without disturbing the intracellular redox state of the myocardium.     

Analysis of the positive inotropic effect of ibopamine in the blood-perfused canine papillary muscle

The positive inotropic effect of ibopamine, an orally active dopamine analogue, was examined in an isolated canine papillary muscle perfused with blood of a donor dog through the anterior septal artery (ASA). Administered intraduodenally (25 mg/kg) in the donor dog, ibopamine increased the left ventricular dP/dtmax as well as the contractile force of the isolated papillary muscle. Injected into the ASA (10 micrograms) it had only a slight positive inotropic effect, which was greatly enhanced by preincubation of the drug in plasma. Addition of physostigmine to the plasma prevented this enhancement. Propranolol (0.2 mg/kg i.v.) shifted the dose-response curves for the positive inotropic effect of plasma-dissolved (PD) ibopamine (0.3-10 micrograms), norepinephrine (NE; 1-100 ng), and deoxyepinephrine (Epinine; 0.3-10 micrograms) to the right. At 3 micrograms/min cocaine enhanced the response to NE, but enhanced only slightly the responses to Epinine and PD ibopamine; at 10 micrograms/ml it enhanced the response to NE, but depressed slightly the responses to Epinine and PD ibopamine. The positive inotropic effect of intraduodenally administered ibopamine may be caused by active metabolite(s), possibly epinine, from its hydrolysis by esterases, and may be mediated by both direct and indirect stimulation of beta-adrenoceptors in the canine heart.     

Assessment of the cardiohemodynamic effects of ibopamine, an orally-active dopamine analogue, in the anesthetized open-chest guinea pig and the isolated guinea pig atria

In the anesthetized open-chest guinea pig, ibopamine (10-300 micrograms/kg, i.v.), epinine (10-100 micrograms/kg, i.v.) and dopamine (10-300 micrograms/kg, i.v.) produced dose-related increases in heart rate (prevented by 20 micrograms/kg pindolol, i.v.), left ventricular dP/dt max and aortic flow. Ibopamine produced pressor effects (prevented by 0.5 mg/kg phentolamine, i.v.), while dopamine produced a slight depressor effect. A biphasic response (the pressor phase followed by a depressor) was observed after epinine, although the depressor phase was not significant. Calculated total peripheral resistance (TPR) tended to be increased after ibopamine and epinine (initial phase), while it was decreased after dopamine. Pindolol potentiated the increase in TPR produced by ibopamine and epinine, while the increase in TPR was converted to the decrease after phentolamine. Decreases in TPR produced by epinine and the highest dose of dopamine were inhibited by pindolol. In the isolated guinea pig atria, ibopamine (10(-6)-10(-4) M) increased the atrial rate and the developed tension in a concentration-related manner. The positive chronotropic and inotropic effects of ibopamine were of the same order as those of epinine.     

Functional analysis of desensitization of the beta-adrenoceptor signalling pathway in rat cardiac tissues following chronic isoprenaline infusion.

1. This study examined beta-adrenoceptor signalling in cardiac tissues following infusion of isoprenaline (400 microg kg(-1) h(-1)) or vehicle to rats for 14 days. 2. Isoprenaline infusion caused marked hypertrophy of atria and ventricles and reduced the resting rate of spontaneously beating right atria and the basal force of left atrial contraction. 3. In spontaneously beating right atria, concentration-response curves to isoprenaline and forskolin were shifted 7.9 and 3.2 fold to the right following treatment whereas responses to the cyclic AMP analogue 5,6-dichloro-1-beta-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole-3', 5'-cyclic monophosphorothioate were unchanged. 4. In electrically driven left atria, concentration-response curves to isoprenaline and forskolin were shifted 4 fold to the right and maximum responses reduced. Responses to dibutyryl cyclic AMP were shifted 3.2 fold to the right but those to Ca2+ were unchanged. 5. Inotropic responses of left and right ventricular papillary muscles to isoprenaline were abolished and markedly reduced respectively by isoprenaline treatment. Responses to forskolin were shifted 5 fold to the right. Responses to dibutyryl cyclic AMP were shifted to the right 3.2 and 2 fold in left and right ventricular papillary muscles. Responses to isobutyl methyl xanthine were shifted to the right 15.8 and 6.3 fold in left and right papillary muscles whereas those to Ca2+ were not significantly altered. 6. This study indicates differences in beta-adrenoceptor desensitization in different regions of the heart following chronic infusion of isoprenaline. Chronotropic responses showed impaired signalling between the receptor and adenylate cyclase whereas inotropic responses exhibited additional desensitization at the level of cyclic AMP dependent protein kinase.     

Effects of sodium selenate treatment on altered responses of left and right atria from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Experiments were designed to determine whether experimental diabetes alters inotropic and chronotropic effects of adrenergic, adenosinergic, and cholinergic agonists and whether the observed changes are prevented by sodium selenate therapy. Thirty-two rats were divided into four groups of eight subjects each. Diabetes induced by streptozotocin caused significant decreases in isoproterenol-invoked contraction of the left atria with preservation of the right atrial chronotropic responses. The diminished response of the left atrial muscle to isoproterenol did not respond to treatment with sodium selenate. The left atria adenosine-induced direct- and indirect inotropic responses were diminished in the diabetic rats. After treatment with sodium selenate the direct response was completely normalized, but the indirect response was only partially corrected. Adenosine-induced negative chronotropic effects are accompanied by changed responses in diabetic right atria that are corrected after treatment. The carbachol-induced inotropic and chronotropic responses were not altered in tests of the acetylcholine system. We conclude that in diabetic rats, sodium selenate treatment reverses the deficits of adenosine-induced negative inotropic responses of left and right atria, but not those of isoproterenol-induced positive inotropic responses.     

Effect of diamide on isolated guinea pig atria

Diamide [(diazinedicarboxylic acid-bis (dimethylamide)] 50 micrograms/ml induced a positive inotropic and chronotropic effect on spontaneously beating atria from normal and reserpine pretreated guinea pigs and a positive inotropic action on electrically driven left atria. Cumulative addition of diamide 600 micrograms/ml caused a systolic standstill of atria. D(-) INPEA 2 micrograms/ml, a beta-adrenergic blocking agent, antagonized the positive chronotropic action of diamide 50 micrograms/ml while it did not affect the positive inotropic action caused by diamide. In isolated atria perfused with Ca2+ free medium and recovered by stepwise addition of calcium chloride, the calcium level required to restore normal activity was 1.04 mmol/1 while it was 0.52 mmol/l in the presence of diamide. Ruthenium red 10 micrograms/ml, a specific inhibitor of calcium transport in mitochondria, antagonized diamide-induced recovery of the cardiac activity in calcium poor medium. Two different mechanisms, that involve calcium movements and beta-receptor, have been proposed for diamide action on heart muscle.     

The effects of chronic L-name and L-arginine administration on beta-adrenergic responsiveness of STZ-diabetic rat atria.

Recent studies have shown that NO acts as a negative inotrope and chronotrop in cardiac muscle. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the chronic administration of L-NAME and L -arginine on 14-week streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rat atria. To study these effects, we compared the alterations of inotropic and chronotropic responses to isoprenaline (ISO) on electrically-driven left atria and spontaneously beating right atria. In addition, we compared the blood pressures of rats in all groups. The chronic administration of L-arginine resulted in a significant reduction in blood pressure of the diabetic rats. On the other hand, the chronic nitric oxide synthase inhibition resulted in a significant increase in blood pressure of diabetic animals. To our findings, maximum positive inotropic responses of ISO diminished in STZ-diabetic, L-arginine and L-NAME treated diabetic groups relative to controls but neither the basal contractility of the left atria nor the pD(2)values were altered significantly in all groups. The basal atrial rate and maximum positive chronotropic responses to ISO were found to be significantly lower in treated and untreated diabetic groups, no significant changes were observed in pD(2)values. Our results demonstrate that the changes in inotropic and chronotropic responses in diabetic rat atria were not influenced by the chronic administration of L-arginine and L-NAME treatments.     

INFLUENCE OF NICORANDIL, AN ANTIANGINAL AGENT, ON THE THERAPEUTIC AND TOXIC CARDIOVASCULAR ACTIONS OF OUABAIN IN THE ANAESTHETIZED DOG

The effects of nicorandil were investigated on ouabain-induced cardiovascular actions in pentobarbitone-anaesthetized dogs. Nicorandil (500 micrograms/kg per h) and ouabain (100 micrograms/kg per h), alone and in combination, were infused intravenously to three groups of dogs. Nicorandil gradually decreased systemic blood pressure, pressure-rate product, left ventricular systolic pressure, and coronary vascular resistance, but did not significantly affect heart rate, left ventricular dP/dt max, coronary blood flow, plasma electrolyte concentrations and ECG patterns. The lethal dose of ouabain was 122 micrograms/kg (s.e.m. = 3, n = 6) and the dose required to elicit ventricular premature beats was 63 micrograms/kg (s.e.m. = 3, n = 6). When nicorandil and ouabain were simultaneously infused intravenously, nicorandil did not affect either the lethal dose of ouabain or the dose required to produce ventricular premature beats, but it significantly inhibited the marked increases in coronary vascular resistance and systemic blood pressure induced by ouabain alone. Even in combination with nicorandil, ouabain maintained its own positive inotropic effect. The results indicate that the combination of ouabain with nicorandil may be beneficial in some conditions of angina pectoris.     

Cardiovascular effects of the toxin(s) of the Australian paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus, in the rat.

An extract of toxin(s) from the Australian paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus, produced positive inotropic responses in rat left ventricular papillary muscles and positive contractile responses in rat thoracic aortic rings. There was no measurable chronotropic response in rat right atria, but positive inotropic concentrations in papillary muscles produced arrhythmias in right atria. Positive inotropic responses were attenuated by verapamil, but unaffected by metoprolol, cimetidine, pyrilamine, tetrodotoxin and pinacidil. Microelectrode studies on isolated left ventricular papillary muscles demonstrated that the extract prolonged action potential duration at 20, 50 and 90% of repolarisation and delayed ventricular papillary muscle relaxation. Cardiovascular tissues isolated from rats with experimentally induced tick paralysis showed no myocardial damage as identified by histological and ultrastructural examination. The basal rate and force of contraction of isolated cardiac tissues were lower from tick-paralysed than normal rats. Concentration-response curves to dobutamine and calcium chloride were similar between tissues from tick-paralysed and normal rats. Thus, the Australian paralysis tick, I. holocyclus, produces one or more toxins with direct cardiovascular effects which mimic the effects produced by direct blockade of cardiac and vascular K+ channels.     

Aging: inotropic effects of Bay K-8644 and nifedipine on rat cardiac muscle.

Inotropic effects of Bay K-8644, nifedipine, isoproterenol and extracellular calcium (Ca2+o) were examined in right ventricular strips, papillary muscle and left atria isolated from 4, 14 and 25 month old, male F344 rats. Under the experimental conditions used (37 degrees C, 1.4 mM Ca2+o and 4 Hz), control developed tension (expressed per mg wet weight) increased with age in right ventricular strips and papillary muscle, but decreased in left atria. The maximal positive inotropic response to Bay K-8644 was diminished with age in right ventricular strips and papillary muscle (but not left atria), while the negative inotropic action of nifedipine was not affected in any of the three tissues. Age decreased the inotropic efficacy of isoproterenol in right ventricular strips and papillary muscle (not left atria), had no effect on the efficacy of Ca2+o in right ventricular strips and left atria, but diminished the maximum response to Ca2+o in papillary muscle. Kd and B(max) values for [3H]nitrendipine binding were not significantly different in the three age groups. These data suggest: (1) that age-related changes in basal contractility and inotropic responsiveness differ in atrial and ventricular muscle; and (2) that these changes may result from alterations in excitation-contraction coupling which are not mediated by changes in Ca2+ channel density.     

Inverse agonist activities of beta-adrenoceptor antagonists in rat myocardium.

1. Negative inotropic effects of several beta-adrenoceptor (betaAR) antagonists on electrically-stimulated right atria, left atria, right ventricles and left ventricular papillary muscles from reserpine-treated rats were used as a measure of their inverse agonist activities. 2. Beta1AR antagonists acebutolol, atenolol and metoprolol, beta2AR antagonist ICI-181,551 and nonselective betaAR antagonists alprenolol, nadolol, propranolol and timolol produced negative inotropic effects, which were most marked on the right atria. 3. The nonselective betaAR antagonist pindolol did not exhibit inverse agonist activity but inhibited the negative inotropic activities of ICI-118,551, atenolol and propranolol. 4. The negative inotropic effects of lidocaine, nifedipine and pentobarbitone were similar on all the four myocardial preparations. 5. The positive inotropic efficacy of salbutamol on right and left atria but not on right ventricles and papillary muscles was comparable to that of isoprenaline. The antagonist activity of ICI-118,551 against isoprenaline was greater on right atria than on other cardiac regions. 6. Beta1AR proteins were expressed in all regions of the heart but of beta2AR were primarily localized in the right atrium. 7. It is concluded that beta2AR play a greater role in right atria than in other cardiac regions and almost all betaAR antagonists behave as inverse agonists.     

Effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin on guinea pig heart muscle

Cardiac effects of TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) were examined using atrial muscle isolated from young or mature guinea pigs fed ad libitum, from young animals 10 or 20 days after a single ip injection of 1 microgram TCDD/kg body wt, and from control guinea pigs pair-fed to the TCDD-treated animals. Basal contraction force of left atrial muscle obtained from TCDD-treated and pair-fed control guinea pigs 10 days after treatment was significantly increased compared to atrial muscle obtained from ad libitum control animals. Atrial muscle from TCDD-treated animals 20 days after treatment had a significantly lower basal force of contraction while that from pair-fed animals was significantly higher relative to atrial muscle from ad libitum control animals. These results suggest that the TCDD-induced change in basal atrial contraction force is in part due to undernutrition and that prolonged exposure to TCDD inhibits this response observed in pair-fed animals. Furthermore, prolonged TCDD treatment shifted the dose-response curve for the positive inotropic effect of isoproterenol to the right with no statistically significant change in the maximal inotropic effect obtained with high concentrations of isoproterenol. The TCDD-induced changes in force of contraction and the dose-response curve for the positive inotropic effect of isoproterenol were similar in young TCDD-treated and mature control guinea pigs. TCDD did not alter the basal contraction frequency or the dose-response curve for the positive chronotropic effect of isoproterenol. There was no effect on cardiac lipoprotein lipase activity at 1 microgram/kg, but in animals administered 4 micrograms TCDD/kg activity was reduced. It was concluded that TCDD adversely affects atrial muscle of guinea pig heart.     

Differential pattern of endothelin-1-induced inotropic effects in right atria and left ventricles of the human heart

In human right atrium, endothelin A (ET(A)) receptors couple to both inositol phosphate formation and inhibition of adenylylcyclase, whereas in human left ventricle, ET(A) receptors couple only to inositol phosphate formation. To find out whether this might be of functional relevance, we studied, in right atria obtained from 32 patients undergoing coronary bypass grafting without apparent heart failure, and in right atria and left ventricles from eight patients with end-stage heart failure (NYHA IV) undergoing heart transplantation, the effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1) on basal force of contraction or on force of contraction increased by 1 microM forskolin. ET-1 (0.1 microM) exerted a positive inotropic effect in atrial and ventricular tissue; this could be antagonized by the ET(A)-receptor antagonist BQ 123, but not by the ET(B)-receptor antagonist BQ 788. In atrial, but not in ventricular tissue, this positive inotropic effect was preceded by a transient negative inotropic effect. This negative inotropic effect was inhibited by BQ 123, but not by BQ 788. It was significantly prolonged in forskolin-prestimulated atria, and was significantly larger in atria from failing hearts. We conclude that, because ET-1 inhibits adenylylcyclase and causes negative inotropic effects in atria but not in ventricles, adenylylcyclase inhibition might be responsible for the transient negative inotropic effect of ET-1.     

The postnatal development of adrenoceptor responses to agonists and electrical stimulation in rat isolated atria.

1. Isolated right and left atria from rats of ages ranging from newborn to adult were used to measure chronotropic and inotropic responses to noradrenaline, isoprenaline, tyramine, and electrical stimulation of intramural nerves. 2. Right atria from newborn animals showed increases in rate with noradrenaline, isoprenaline, and tyramine which did not differ significantly from those of atria from adults. The ED50 values for the chronotropic actions of noradrenaline and isoprenaline were not significantly different at any age from the values in adult preparations. 3. Paced left atria from newborn rats showed well developed positive inotropic responses to noradrenaline and isoprenaline. Newborn left atria (and those from 1 and 2 week old animals) were supersensitive to noradrenaline but not to isoprenaline. 4. Left atria from newborn animals showed very small inotropic responses to both tyramine and field stimulation of intramural nerves. These responses developed progressively with age over the first three weeks of life. The results are discussed with respect to the development of cardiac beta-adrenoceptors and of cardiac sympathetic innervation.     

COMPARISON OF INOTROPIC AND CHRONOTROPIC RESPONSES IN RAT ISOLATED ATRIA AND VENTRICLES

1. The positive inotropic and chronotropic responses to adrenoceptor agonists (noradrenaline, phenylephrine), to compounds which increase cAMP by post-adrenoceptor mechanisms (forskolin, theophylline and dibutyryl cAMP) and to calcium chloride were measured in isolated rat atria and papillary muscles from both ventricles. 2. Noradrenaline produced similar maximal inotropic responses to calcium chloride in all tissues. Forskolin gave similar responses to calcium chloride in atrial but not ventricular tissues; the reverse was observed with dibutyryl cAMP. Phenylephrine and theophylline produced significantly smaller inotropic responses than calcium chloride in all tissues, especially in ventricular tissues. 3. Maximal chronotropic responses to noradrenaline, theophylline and dibutyryl cAMP were similar. Forskolin produced significantly greater responses while calcium chloride and phenylephrine produced significantly smaller responses than noradrenaline. 4. These results show that the maximal positive inotropic response of some agonists is markedly dependent on the tissue chosen. Further, chronotropic responses in right atria do not mimic inotropic responses in left atria.