Tertatolol, a new beta-blocker, is a serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine1A) receptor antagonist in rat brain.

The interaction of tertatolol (d,l-hydroxy-2'-t-butylamino-3'propyloxy-8-thiochromane HCl) with 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin; 5-HT) receptors in several brain areas were investigated. Both ligand binding techniques and an electrophysiological approach were used. First, the affinity of tertatolol for different 5-HT receptor subtypes was measured, as assayed by a competition binding experiment using specific ligands in several brain areas. It was found that (-)-tertatolol binds to 5-HT1 receptor subtypes in rat brain, particularly the 5-HT1A subtype in the hippocampus (Ki = 5.9 nM). (-)-Tertatolol showed much lower affinity for 5-HT1B (Ki = 118.4 nM), 5-HT1C (Ki = 699.6 nM) and 5-HT2 (Ki = 678.6 nM) receptors. The binding of tertatolol to hippocampal 5-HT1A receptors was stereospecific in that the affinity of (+)-tertatolol to these receptors (Ki = 311.6 nM) was about 20 times lower as compared to that of (-)-tertatolol. There was no significant binding of tertatolol to 5-HT1D, 5-HT3, alpha-1 adrenergic receptors or to the serotonin uptake site. Electrophysiological techniques were used to study the effects of (-)-tertatolol on the activity of 5-HT-containing neurons in the rat dorsal raphe nucleus. Acute i.v. injection of (-)-tertatolol caused a slight increase in the basal firing rate of the majority of 5-HT neurons studied. Pretreatment with (-)-tertatolol (1 mg/kg i.v.) significantly reduced the inhibitory effect of 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-proylamino) tetralin (0.25-64 micrograms/kg i.v.) on the firing rate of dorsal raphe nucleus 5-HT neurons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)