Pre- and postsynaptic effects of indoramin on sympathetic neuroeffector transmission in rabbit aorta and pulmonary artery.

The effects of indoramin on sympathetic neuroeffector transmission in rabbit isolated blood vessels were examined. Indoramin reduced the contractions of pulmonary artery evoked by electrical-field stimulation. The IC50 was 7.4 X 10(-8) M. In the presence of cocaine + corticosterone + propranolol, the IC50 was 5 X 10(-7) M. Amphetamine did not antagonize the steady-state inhibition caused by indoramin. Indoramin caused a slight enhancement of the field-stimulation-evoked 3H-overflow from pulmonary artery preloaded with 3H-noradrenaline. In the presence of cocaine + corticosterone + propranolol, indoramin also enhanced the stimulation-evoked 3H-overflow slightly. The effect of indoramin on stimulation-evoked 3H-overflow depended only slightly on stimulation frequencies (1-30 Hz): small enhancement at 1 Hz and nonsignificant changes at 3-30 Hz. Pretreatment with indoramin did not attenuate the inhibitory effect of clonidine on the stimulation-evoked 3H-overflow seen with bretylium. Indoramin and desmethylimipramine reduced the 3H-accumulation by aorta preloaded with 3H-noradrenaline. The IC50 was 3 X 10(-5)M (indoramin) and 10(-8)M (desmethylimipramine). Indoramin inhibited the contractions of aorta evoked by noradrenaline, phenylephrine, histamine and serotonin in a competitive manner. The corresponding pA2 values were 7.54, 7.98, 7.45, and 6.61. Indoramin decreased the maximal contractions of rabbit aorta evoked by potassium. These results suggest that indoramin is a potent competitive antagonist of postsynaptic alpha 1-adrenoceptors, while it may only have a slight inhibitory effect on presynaptic alpha 2-adrenoceptors. Indoramin is devoid of bretylium-like adrenergic neurone blocking activity, while it may act as reserpine. It is a weak inhibitor of the uptake-1 mechanism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)