Identification of alpha 2-adrenoceptors and of non-adrenergic idazoxan binding sites in pancreatic islets from young and adult hamsters.

1. The current study was undertaken to investigate the characteristics of alpha 2-adrenoceptors and to search for the presence of NAIBS in hamster pancreatic islets. 2. Pancreatic islets were isolated from young (6-7 weeks) and adult (14-15 weeks) animals. 3. The identification of alpha 2-adrenoceptors using [3H]RX821002 indicated that adults exhibited higher number of alpha 2-adrenoceptors than the young animals (194 +/- 20 vs 105 +/- 16 fmol/mg protein) while the Kd value was unchanged. 4. Glucose-evoked insulin release was completely inhibited by the alpha 2-agonist clonidine (0.1 microM) whatever the age of the animals. Agonist inhibition curves showed the following rank order of potency: clonidine > UK14304 > adrenaline. 5. Blockade of UK14304-elicited inhibition by various antagonists indicated that yohimbine has a low affinity for the receptor supporting the conclusion that the receptor is of the alpha 2-D subtype. 6. Binding experiments with [3H]idazoxan under conditions allowing to discriminate between alpha 2-adrenoceptors and NAIBS showed that hamster pancreatic islets express a high number of NAIBS. The density of NAIBS was similar in young and adult hamsters (1550 +/- 245 and 1342 +/- 332 fmol/mg protein).