RATE, FORCE AND CYCLIC ADENOSINE 3′, 5′‐MONOPHOSPHATE RESPONSES TO (—)‐ADRENALINE IN NEONATAL RAT HEART TISSUE

Article date: August 1980

By: T.L.S. AU, G.A. COLLINS, M.J.A. WALKER, in Volume 69, Issue 4, pages 601-608

(–)‐Adrenaline sensitivity in 1 to 20 day‐old rat heart tissue was investigated as rate, force and cyclic adenosine 3′, 5′‐monophosphate (cyclic AMP) production responses together with sensitivity to (±)‐propranolol blockade.

Resting performances were measured and responsiveness to (–)‐adrenaline then determined as ED50 values and maximal responses together with sensitivity to propranolol (pA2 values).

Resting force, corrected for sample size, did not change with age, whereas resting atrial rate doubled between 1 and 20 days.

ED50 concentrations in atria were constant with age, but decreased in ventricles. Cocaine (10−5m) and other drugs did not consistently affect ED50 values.

Maximal responses were not age‐dependent in right atria, but increased in left atria. In 2 to 5 day‐old hearts there was no inotropic response to adrenaline and the very small maximal response in ventricles rose 5 to 7 fold by 20 days.

Propranolol sensitivity increased slightly (2 to 4 times) with age in all tissue from a pA2 value of 7.5 at 2 days to 8.2 at 20 days.

Control cyclic AMP was higher in 2 day than in 20 day‐old tissue and in atria than ventricular strips or hearts. In 2 and 20 day‐old atria, hearts and ventricles, force increases with different adrenaline concentrations correlated linearly with the log of the increase in cyclic AMP. Such a correlation was not seen in 2 day hearts and ventricles for cyclic AMP rose without corresponding force increases.

Results suggest slight maturational changes in atrial β‐receptors. In 1 to 5 day‐old ventricles, normal ED50 concentrations and good cyclic AMP response in the presence of a much reduced force response may indicate receptor‐response transduction inefficiency, assuming a β1‐receptor occupation and cyclic AMP production response mechanism for inotropism with adrenaline.

(–)‐Adrenaline sensitivity in 1 to 20 day‐old rat heart tissue was investigated as rate, force and cyclic adenosine 3′, 5′‐monophosphate (cyclic AMP) production responses together with sensitivity to (±)‐propranolol blockade.

Resting performances were measured and responsiveness to (–)‐adrenaline then determined as ED50 values and maximal responses together with sensitivity to propranolol (pA2 values).

Resting force, corrected for sample size, did not change with age, whereas resting atrial rate doubled between 1 and 20 days.

ED50 concentrations in atria were constant with age, but decreased in ventricles. Cocaine (10−5m) and other drugs did not consistently affect ED50 values.

Maximal responses were not age‐dependent in right atria, but increased in left atria. In 2 to 5 day‐old hearts there was no inotropic response to adrenaline and the very small maximal response in ventricles rose 5 to 7 fold by 20 days.

Propranolol sensitivity increased slightly (2 to 4 times) with age in all tissue from a pA2 value of 7.5 at 2 days to 8.2 at 20 days.

Control cyclic AMP was higher in 2 day than in 20 day‐old tissue and in atria than ventricular strips or hearts. In 2 and 20 day‐old atria, hearts and ventricles, force increases with different adrenaline concentrations correlated linearly with the log of the increase in cyclic AMP. Such a correlation was not seen in 2 day hearts and ventricles for cyclic AMP rose without corresponding force increases.

Results suggest slight maturational changes in atrial β‐receptors. In 1 to 5 day‐old ventricles, normal ED50 concentrations and good cyclic AMP response in the presence of a much reduced force response may indicate receptor‐response transduction inefficiency, assuming a β1‐receptor occupation and cyclic AMP production response mechanism for inotropism with adrenaline.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1980.tb07910.x

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