Selective autonomic stimulation of canine trachealis with dimethylphenylpiperazinium.

The response of canine tracheal muscle to autonomic stimulation with 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium iodide (DMPP) was studied isometrically in 39 dogs in vivo. Intra-arterial (ia) DMPP (2.5 X 10(-4) to 2.5 X 10(-2) mg/kg) caused selective dose related contraction [maximum 30.1 +/- 6.5 gram-force (gf)/cm] due to regional stimulation of parasympathetic ganglia. This contraction was blocked by regional administration of atropine 10(-3) mg/kg ia and hexamethonium 5 X 10(-2) mg/kg ia. Nonselective intravenous (iv) administration of DMPP 2.5 X 10(-2) mg/kg caused parasympathetic tracheal contraction [+13.4 +/- 1.64 gf/cm] followed by later sympathetic relaxation [-11.8 +/- 2.3 gf/cm]; 0.5 mg/kg iv atropine abolished contraction but did not affect relaxation. The role of the adrenal gland vs. direct sympathetic innervation in producing tracheal relaxation after sympathetic stimulation was also studied. Tracheal relaxation to 2.5 X 10(-2) mg/kg iv DMPP was -18.2 +/- 4.0 gf/cm before adrenalectomy (ADX) and -4.3 +/- 0.9 gf/cm afterward (P less than 0.001). In contrast, tracheal contraction resulting from alpha-adrenergic stimulation after 2.5 X 10(-2) mg/kg iv DMPP in beta-blocked (BB) dogs was not significantly altered by ADX. At 2.5 X 10(-1) mg/kg iv DMPP, the alpha-adrenergic contractile response was still 70% of the response prior to ADX. We conclude that sympathetic tracheal relaxation in dogs is predominantly mediated by circulating catecholamine from the adrenal gland, but that alpha-adrenergic contraction after BB results predominantly from direct sympathetic innervation and is not greatly augmented by adrenal secretion. We also report a new method for selective stimulation of airway cholinergic nerves in vivo without systemic effects.