The effects of cocaine and metanephrine on the cardiac responses to sympathetic nerve stimulation in dogs.

The effects of infusions of cocaine (COC) and metanephrine (MET) on the inotropic and chronotropic responses to cardiac sympathetic nerve stimulation were studied in open-chest, anesthetized dogs. COC blocks the neuronal uptake of norepinephrine (NE), whereas MET blocks the extraneuronal uptake. Both blocking agents slightly enhanced the inotropic but not the chronotropic responses. COC prolonged the cardiac responses significantly, particularly the chronotropic responses, whereas MET had no appreciable effect on the durations of these responses. Hence, it appears that the neuronal uptake mechanism plays a major role in the dissipation of neurally released NE in the heart, but that the extra-neuronal uptake mechanism plays only a minor role in its dissipation. In contrast to the results in certain other tissues, the combined effects of COC and MET on the cardiac responses were no greater or more prolonged than the sum of the effects produced by each agent acting alone.