The effects of drugs and denervation on removal and accumulation of adrenaline in the perfused hind-limb of the dog.

Removal of adrenaline by the perfused hind-limb of the dog, as well as its accumulation in the femoral artery and saphenous vein, were studied. Saturation of accumulation occurred at the dose level of 1.5 microng/kg.min-1, whereas removal was not saturated at the dose of 4.5 microng/kg.min-1. Removal of adrenaline was significantly reduced by pretreatment with cortexone, cocaine, phenoxybenzamine and reserpine or by surgical denervation of the limb; enzymatic inhibition by iproniazid or U-0521 had no significant effect on removal. Denervation, reserpine and cortex-one blocked the accumulation of adrenaline, whereas U-0521 was the only drug to increase accumulation of adrenaline. The blood vessels perfused have shown a high capacity of removal of adrenaline from the circulating blood, and thus may play an important role in termination of action of both exogenous and adrenal adrenaline.