[The role of catecholamines in the centrifugal regulation of taste receptors].

An electrophysiological method was used to study the centrifugal inhibition of the impulse activity of taste receptors of the frog tongue. A deficiency of catecholamines in the organism (reserpinization) or perfusion of the adrenaline-blocking agents through the lingual vessel (propranololi hydrochloridum, dibenamine) were found to prevent the centrifugal inhibition, while perfusion with an adrenomimetic agent (epinephrine) enhanced this effect. Such effects of the adrenergic agents were also observed in the animals which were subjected to desympathization by bilateral extirpation of the first ganglion of the sympathetic chain. A conclusion was drawn that catecholamines in the papilli were necessary to obtain the central inhibition influences on the function of the taste receptor apparatus.