[Can blockade of presynaptic adrenergic beta receptors explain the antihypertensive effects of propranolol?].

Pretreatment with 6-hydroxydopamine abolished the antihypertensive effects of intravenously and intracisternally administered dl-propranolol in dogs with acute neurogenic hypertension. These results show that the anti-hypertensive action of this drug is dependant on the integrity of central catecholaminergic neurones and suggest an action on presynaptic bêta-adrenoceptors.