An inhibition of post-ganglionic motor transmission in the mammalian vas deferens by D-lysergic acid diethylamide.

1. Under certain conditions D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 10(-9)-10(-6) g/ml., exerted an immediate, prolonged and slowly reversible inhibitory effect upon the post-ganglionic motor transmission in desheathed guinea-pig vas deferens preparations.2. The most critical factor influencing this action of LSD appeared to be the train length. With short trains of less than 4 or 5 pulses the twitch inhibition produced by LSD was often total. With longer trains (5-20 pulses), the degree of inhibition declined with increase in train length. These results suggest the existence of two components in the motor response to post-ganglionic stimulation, distinguished by their susceptibility to LSD.3. The inhibition of the LSD-susceptible component was related to the dose of LSD in the range 10(-9)-10(-6) g/ml., reaching a maximum at 0.5-1 x 10(-6) g/ml. The response remnants elicited by trains of more than 5 pulses under these conditions could not be reduced further by a ten- to twenty-fold increase in LSD concentration to 10(-5) g/ml. and were in fact slightly potentiated.4. The inhibition of post-ganglionic motor transmission by LSD was not explicable on the basis of an alpha-adrenoceptor blockade because it was not associated with any reduction in motor responses to noradrenaline.5. The use of propranolol excluded mediation of the LSD-inhibition by beta-adrenoceptors.6. The LSD effect was not due to a non-specific smooth muscle depression because it was not associated with any reduction in motor responses to acetylcholine, ATP or bradykinin.7. The inhibitory effect of LSD on post-ganglionic transmission resembled that of noradrenaline in that it was antagonized by phentolamine; another alpha-adrenoceptor blocking agent, phenoxybenzamine, was less effective than phentolamine in this respect.8. The LSD-inhibition was obtained in preparations taken from reserpinized guinea-pigs.9. The inhibition of motor transmission in the vas deferens by LSD was confirmed in rats, Meriones shawii and rabbits.10. The inhibition of post-ganglionic transmission by LSD was unrelated to its ability to antagonize 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), to which the longitudinal muscle of the guinea-pig vas deferens is insensitive. The more potent 5-HT antagonists, methysergide and BOL 148 were either virtually inactive or considerably weaker than LSD.

Inhibition of post-ganglionic motor transmission in vas deferens by indirectly acting sympathomimetic drugs.

1. Using field stimulation with short trains of pulses (< 10 per train), the post-ganglionic motor transmission in the mammalian vas deferens has been further analysed pharmacologically.2. In preparations taken from guinea-pigs, rats and rabbits the effects of the indirectly sympathomimetic drugs, tyramine and cocaine, could be explained entirely on the basis of the actions of released, endogenous noradrenaline.3. Tyramine produced a contraction in vasa taken from normal rats but not from normal guinea-pigs. The tyramine contraction was due to release of endogenous noradrenaline because it was not seen in preparations taken from reserpinized rats and because it was abolished in normal vasa by phenoxybenzamine or phentolamine, thus denying the supposed inaccessibility, to alpha-blockers, of the motor alpha-adrenoceptors activated by endogenous noradrenaline.4. Phenoxybenzamine or phentolamine failed to block post-ganglionic motor transmission in rat and in guinea-pig vasa.5. Tyramine strongly inhibited motor transmission in vasa taken from normal but not from reserpinized guinea-pigs.6. Tyramine produced inhibition of motor transmission in phenoxybenzamine-treated preparations taken from normal but not from reserpinized rats.7. Cocaine inhibited motor transmission in guinea-pig and in rat vasa. This effect was not due to a local anaesthetic or to a smooth-muscle depressant action because it did not occur in preparations taken from reserpinized animals.8. The inhibitory effect of tyramine or cocaine was not abolished by beta-adrenoceptor blockade with propranolol.9. Whereas reserpinization abolished the tyramine- and cocaine-inhibitions, it did not affect the inhibitory actions of noradrenaline or of PGE(2).10. Indomethacin and sodium meclofenamate, which suppress prostaglandin synthesis, did not affect the twitch-inhibiting actions of noradrenaline, tyramine or cocaine.11. These results provide further support for the conclusion that post-ganglionic motor transmission to the vas deferens is non-adrenergic in these species and assign to endogenously released noradrenaline an inhibitory role upon motor transmission.