Action of papaverine and verapamil on norepinephrine and calcium evoked contraction of vascular and non vascular smooth muscle.

On isolated rat vas deferens both papaverine and verapamil show a non competitive antagonism against norepinephrine and a competitive antagonism against Ca2+. Verapamil is nearly 100 times more active than papaverine. On the main pulmonary artery and on the thoracic aorta of the rabbit, verapamil shows a competitive antagonism against both norepinephrine and Ca2+ but it is more effective (almost 100 times) against Ca2+ than norepinephrine. Papaverine also shows a competitive antagonism against norepinephrine but a non competitive antagonism against Ca2+. The contrasting results obtained on rat vas deferens and rabbit vessels might be due to: 1) mechanism(s) of action of the agonist; 2) properties of the biological object as far concerns receptor activation and mechanism(s) of excitation-contraction coupling; 3) mechanism(s) of action of spasmolytic drugs. All these factors act in a cooperative way in determining the quality and the quantity of the observed responses.