vasopressin--1-(1-mercaptocyclohexaneacetic-acid)-2-(o--methyl-l-tyrosine)-8-l-arginine- and methylatropine

1. Microinjection of the cholinergic agonist carbachol (3.3, 5.5 and 13.2 nmol) into the posterior hypothalamic nucleus of conscious rats evokes a dose-dependent increase in blood pressure. The pressor response evoked by the lower doses of carbachol was attenuated by pretreatment with the ganglionic nicotinic receptor antagonist pentolinium (10 mg kg(-1), i.v.) while blockade of V1-vasopressin receptors with [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)]AVP (20 microg kg(-1), i.v.) reduced the pressor response evoked by the highest dose. 2. The combination of pentolinium and the muscarinic receptor antagonist methylatropine (2 mg kg(-1), i.v.) completely blocked the response evoked by the lower doses while the addition of [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)]AVP to these two antagonists was required for further inhibition of the pressor response to the highest dose of carbachol. Bilateral adrenal demedullation did not affect the pressor response evoked by 5.5 or 13.2 nmol of carbachol. 3. Treatment of intact and adrenal demedullated rats with pentolinium after the pressor response to 13.2 nmol of carbachol was underway reversed the pressor response, but not to the same degree as that provided by the combination of pentolinium and methylatropine, or pentolinium and [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)]AVP. 4. Methylatropine or [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)]AVP caused a slight reversal of the carbachol-induced pressor response once it was underway in intact rats. Methylatropine given before or after pentolinium worked with the pentolinium to completely reverse the response. Methylatropine given alone reversed the bradycardia evoked by carbachol to a tachycardia which itself was antagonized by subsequent treatment with pentolinium. 5. These results suggest that the pressor response evoked by carbachol microinjection into the posterior hypothalamic nucleus of conscious rats involves sympathoexcitation and vasopressin release. The sympathoexcitation involves nicotinic and muscarinic receptors in autonomic ganglia.

Topics: Adrenal Medulla; Animals; Antidiuretic Hormone Receptor Antagonists; Arginine Vasopressin; Atropine Derivatives; Carbachol; Ganglionic Blockers; Hypothalamus; Male; Microinjections; Muscarinic Agonists; Nicotinic Agonists; Parasympatholytics; Pentolinium Tartrate; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Endothelin is a peptide with potent, long-lasting pressor effects characterized by increases in mesenteric and hindquarters vascular resistance and bradycardia following an initial, transient depressor response. This study examined the mechanisms of action of endothelin on regional hemodynamics in conscious, freely moving rats and on baroreflex sensitivity both in conscious and chloralose-anesthetized rats. The pressor response to endothelin (0.67 nmol/kg) was attenuated by nifedipine (25 micrograms/kg) and augmented by chloralose anesthesia. The bradycardia was attenuated by pentolinium (10 mg/kg), atropine methyl sulfate (0.5 mg/kg), or chloralose anesthesia. Hindquarter vaso-constriction was attenuated by nifedipine, pentolinium, and atropine, whereas mesenteric vasoconstriction was less sensitive to blockade. The vasopressin V1 antagonist, [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)]-AVP (20 micrograms/kg), indomethacin (5 mg/kg), or verapamil (150 micrograms/kg) did not affect any of these cardiovascular responses. Renal sympathetic nerve activity was reduced similarly in chloralose-anesthetized rats to pressor responses elicited by either phenylephrine or endothelin, and the slope of the baro-reflex function curve after endothelin was similar to that of phenylephrine. These results suggest that endothelin is a potent vasoconstrictor in which its action on visceral and skeletal muscle vasculature is mediated by somewhat different mechanisms. Endothelin does not alter baroreceptor reflex control of sympathetic nerve activity or heart rate.

Topics: Animals; Arginine Vasopressin; Atropine Derivatives; Calcium Channel Blockers; Endothelins; Endothelium, Vascular; Hemodynamics; Kidney; Male; Pentolinium Tartrate; Peptides; Pressoreceptors; Rats; Reflex; Sympathetic Nervous System

The cardiovascular effects of centrally administered cholinomimetics were examined in conscious Long-Evans and Brattleboro rats. Carbachol (1 microgram/kg) or physostigmine (50 micrograms/kg) induced a long-lasting increase in blood pressure and a decrease in heart rate in Long-Evans rats whereas no bradycardia was observed in Brattleboro rats, and the pressor response was significantly less than that in Long-Evans rats. The cardiovascular responses to nicotine (30 micrograms/kg) in Brattleboro rats were not different from those in Long-Evans rats. Intravenous vasopressin antagonist, d(CH2)5Tyr(Me) arginine vasopressin, significantly attenuated the pressor response and eliminated the bradycardic response to carbachol in Long-Evans rats. However, the pressor response to carbachol in Brattleboro rats was still significantly less than that in Long-Evans rats treated with vasopressin antagonist. Intravenous phentolamine partially inhibited the pressor response to carbachol in Long-Evans rats and completely eliminated it in Brattleboro rats. Combined intravenous treatment with phentolamine and vasopressin antagonist completely eliminated the pressor response to carbachol in Long-Evans rats. Centrally administered methylatropine eliminated either the hypertensive or bradycardic response to carbachol in Long-Evans rats. These results indicate that the pressor and bradycardic response to carbachol or physostigmine is mediated by the central muscarinic receptor mechanism. Hypertensive response to intracerebroventricularly administered carbachol in normal rats is mediated both by an increase in central sympathetic outflow and in circulating vasopressin. The bradycardia seems to be mediated mainly by vasopressin.

Topics: Animals; Arginine Vasopressin; Atropine Derivatives; Autonomic Nervous System; Blood Pressure; Bradycardia; Carbachol; Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; Cardiovascular System; Deamino Arginine Vasopressin; Hypertension; Injections, Intraventricular; Male; Nicotine; Parasympatholytics; Phentolamine; Physostigmine; Rats; Rats, Brattleboro; Vasopressins