Comparative aspects of adrenergic receptors in the hearts of lower vertebrates.

The cardiac adrenoceptors of lower vertebrates were characterized in atrial preparations. Adrenaline (A) potentiated the force and frequency of contraction in the spontaneously beating atria of the frog, trout and flounder and in electrically paced atrial strips from the shark. The inotropic responses of A were most pronounced at the lower temperatures for the frog and trout, while A enhanced frequency to a greater extent at higher temperatures in the frog atria. Atrial alpha-receptors activated by A at 8 degrees C could not be detected in any of the species under study. The apparent affinities for the inotropic and chronotropic responses of agonist in the frog (15 degrees C) and trout (8 degrees C) atria were: Iso greater than Sal greater than or equal to A greater than NA. A cocaine-sensitive uptake for A and NA was apparent in these atria, consistent with sympathetic innervation. The affinities for the catecholamines in the flounder and shark atria were not increased by cocaine, in accordance with absence of sympathetic innervation of the atria in these species. These atria were also insensitive to corticosterone. The affinities for A and NA were on the other hand higher in the sympathetically non-innervated atria of the flounder than in the innervated atria of the frog and trout. The apparent orders of relative affinities for agonists were Iso greater than A = NA greater than Sal for the flounder, and of the relative potencies Iso = A greater than NA greater than Sal for the shark atrium. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that catecholamines enhance cardiac performance in lower vertebrates chiefly via "adrenaline" receptors which resemble the beta 2-type of mammalian adrenoceptors in many respects. Unlike that in mammals, cardiac adrenaline receptors in the frog and trout are activated by the sympathetic neurotransmitter ("innervated" receptors). On the other hand, the adrenaline receptors of the flounder and shark are responding to the circulating catecholamines ("humoral" receptors). However, the flounder atrium, with equal affinities for A and NA, appears as an exception to the rule by having a mixed population of humoral beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors, indicating a role for circulating NA in cardiac regulation in this species.