Study of the contraction induced by norepinephrine and clonidine in the isolated guinea-pig ileum.

1. Norepinephrine (NE) and clonidine produce a phasic, dose-dependent contraction of the isolated guinea-pig terminal ileum. 2. The effect of NE was blocked by prazosin which produced a parallel rightward shift of the concentration-effect curve to NE, with a significant depression of maximum effects. 3. Yohimbine and indomethacin noncompetitively blocked, whereas practolol potentiated, the contractile effect of NE. 4. The contractile effect of clonidine was not antagonized by indomethacin or atropine. 5. These results suggest that the isolated guinea-pig terminal ileum has excitatory receptors sensitive to clonidine stimulation and excitatory alpha receptors sensitive to blockade by prazosin, and that the activation of the latter may be related to the activation of endogenous prostaglandin synthesis.