Differential sensitivity to prazosin and yohimbine blockade of tyramine and noradrenaline.

Previous researches demonstrated that in the rat vas deferens the effects of noradrenaline released by tyramine were more easily affected than those induced by exogenous noradrenaline by the non selective alpha-blockers, phentolamine and dihydroergocristine. The investigation has now been extended to the effects of selective alpha-blockers, prazosin and yohimbine with the aim to see whether the major sensitivity of tyramine to alpha-blockade correlates with the type of receptor activated. The results obtained with the two antagonists which selectively block alpha 1 and alpha 2 receptors strongly resemble each other and those previously obtained with the non selective alpha-adrenoceptor blockers. Thus, the peculiar sensitivity to alpha-blockade of noradrenaline released by tyramine with respect to exogenous noradrenaline does not seem to be dependent on the type (alpha 1 or alpha 2) of receptor involved.