The effects of adenosine receptor agonists on cyclic nucleotides accumulation were investigated in adult guinea-pig cerebellar slices by use of radioactive precursors. 2. Adenosine elicited a rapid and maintained increase in cyclic AMP, that was fully reversed upon addition of adenosine deaminase. Adenosine analogues stimulated cyclic AMP generation up to 40 fold with the rank order of potency: 5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (0.6 microM) > 2-chloroadenosine (6 microM) > adenosine (13 microM). CGS 21680 (10 microM) elicited only a small stimulation (1.2 fold). 3. The cyclic AMP response to NECA was reversed by the 1,3-dipropylxanthine-based adenosine receptor antagonists 8-[4-[[[[(2-aminoethyl)amino]amino]carbonyl]methyl]oxy]- phenyl]-1,3-dipropylxanthine (XAC), 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX) and N-[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]N-methyl-4-(1,3-dipropylxanthine)benzene sulphonamide (PD 115,199) with estimated apparent inhibition constants of 15, 81 and 117 nM, respectively. 4. Pretreatment with adenosine also potentiated the cyclic GMP response to sodium nitroprusside, abolishing the decline in [3H]-cyclic GMP observed with sodium nitroprusside alone, and allowing [3H]-cyclic GMP levels to be maintained for at least an additional 10 min. This potentiation was fully reversed by adenosine deaminase. 5. Adenosine analogues potentiated the sodium nitroprusside-elicited cyclic GMP generation with the rank order of potency: 5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (0.7 microM) > 2-chloroadenosine (6 microM) > adenosine (42 microM). 6. NECA potentiation of cyclic GMP formation was reversed by the antagonists XAC, DPCPX and PD 115,199 with apparent inhibition constants of 17, 102 and 242 nM, respectively. 7. The similar potencies of adenosine analogues and xanthine antagonists for stimulation of cyclic AMP and potentiation of cyclic GMP lead to the suggestion that these phenomena are mediated through the same adenosine receptor, the A2b receptor. Furthermore, we suggest that potentiation of the sodium nitroprusside-induced cyclic GMP response may be mediated at the level of phosphodiesterase hydrolysis of the cyclic nucleotides.
