5-HT1A receptors and the tail-flick response. VI. Intrinsic alpha 1A-adrenoceptor antagonist properties can mask the actions of 5-HT1A receptor agonists in the spontaneous tail-flick paradigm.

In view of the involvement of central alpha 1-adrenoceptors in the expression of 5-HT1A receptor-mediated spontaneous tail-flicks (STFs) in the rat, this study examined whether the putative alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist (alpha 1-antagonist) properties of certain 5-HT1A receptor agonists, (+)-flesinoxan and LY 165,163, might modify their behavior in the STF paradigm. Whereas the 5-HT1A receptor agonists 8-OH-DPAT and WY 48,723 dose-dependently elicited STFs, (+)-flesinoxan was only weakly active and LY 165,163 was ineffective. Further, (+)-flesinoxan and LY 165,163 antagonized the induction of STFs by 8-OH-DPAT and WY 48,723. Nevertheless, (+)-flesinoxan and LY 165,163 mimicked 8-OH-DPAT and WY 48,723 in eliciting a pronounced rise in plasma corticosterone and a marked hypothermia: these actions were blocked by the 5-HT1A receptor antagonist, (-)-alprenolol, but they were not affected by the alpha 1-antagonist prazosin. Reflecting its antagonist actions at alpha 1-adrenoceptors, prazosin evoked a pronounced ptosis, an action mimicked by the preferential alpha 1A-antagonists WB 4101, methylurapidil and benoxathian, whereas chlorethylclonidine, which irreversibly inactivates alpha 1B- but not alpha 1A-adrenoceptors, was inactive. Although 8-OH-DPAT and WY 48,723 failed to modify palpebral aperture, (+)-flesinoxan and LY 165,163 provoked a ptosis, suggesting that they possess alpha 1A-antagonist properties. The alpha 1-agonists cirazoline and ST 587 did not elicit STFs alone and failed to modify the induction of STFs by 8-OH-DPAT and WY 48,723. By contrast, they greatly facilitated the ability of both (+)-flesinoxan and LY 165,163 to induce STFs. STFs elicited by (+)-flesinoxan and LY 165,163 in the presence of cirazoline or ST 587 were blocked not only by prazosin but also by (-)-alprenolol, BMY 7378 and S 15535, all of which are antagonists of postsynaptic 5-HT1A receptors. The facilitatory actions of cirazoline and ST 587 were selective in that they did not permit the induction of STFs by agonists at other 5-HT receptor subtypes (5-HT1B, 5-HT1C, 5-HT2 or 5-HT3). In conclusion, in the STF paradigm, the high-efficacy agonist actions of (+)-flesinoxan and LY 165,163 at 5-HT1A receptors are "masked" by their "intrinsic" alpha 1A-antagonist properties, the neutralization of which by alpha 1-agonists reveals the activation of 5-HT1A receptors.