5-HT(2A) and D(2) receptor blockade increases cortical DA release via 5-HT(1A) receptor activation: a possible mechanism of atypical antipsychotic-induced cortical dopamine release.

Atypical antipsychotic drugs (APDs), all of which are relatively more potent as serotonin (5-HT)(2A) than dopamine D(2) antagonists, may improve negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, in part, via increasing cortical dopamine release. 5-HT(1A) agonism has been also suggested to contribute to the ability to increase cortical dopamine release. The present study tested the hypothesis that clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, and perhaps other atypical APDs, increase dopamine release in rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) via 5-HT(1A) receptor activation, as a result of the blockade of 5-HT(2A) and D(2) receptors. M100907 (0.1 mg/kg), a 5-HT(2A) antagonist, significantly increased the ability of both S:(-)-sulpiride (10 mg/kg), a D(2) antagonist devoid of 5-HT(1A) affinity, and R:(+)-8-OH-DPAT (0.05 mg/kg), a 5-HT(1A) agonist, to increase mPFC dopamine release. These effects of M100907 were abolished by WAY100635 (0.05 mg/kg), a 5-HT(1A) antagonist, which by itself has no effect on mPFC dopamine release. WAY100635 (0.2 mg/kg) also reversed the ability of clozapine (20 mg/kg), olanzapine (1 mg/kg), risperidone (1 mg/kg), and the R:(+)-8-OH-DPAT (0.2 mg/kg) to increase mPFC dopamine release. Clozapine is a direct acting 5-HT(1A) partial agonist, whereas olanzapine and risperidone are not. These results suggest that the atypical APDs via 5-HT(2A) and D(2) receptor blockade, regardless of intrinsic 5-HT(1A) affinity, may promote the ability of 5-HT(1A) receptor stimulation to increase mPFC DA release, and provide additional evidence that coadministration of 5-HT(2A) antagonists and typical APDs, which are D(2) antagonists, may facilitate 5-HT(1A) agonist activity.

Substance P released in the rostral brainstem of cats interacts with NK-1 receptors during muscle pressor response.

The release of immunoreactive substance P-like substances (irSP) was measured from sites in the rostral brainstem (at a level 1.3 mm anterior to the obex) of anesthetized cats in response to fatiguing isometric contractions using SP antibody-coated glass microprobes. The contractions caused a pressor and tachycardic response. irSP were released from sites in the medial subnucleus of the nucleus tractus solitarius (mNTS), the solitary tract and lateral tegmental field at this level of the brainstem. Injections of the specific NK-1 receptor antagonist, GR 82334, bilaterally into the mNTS significantly reduced the muscle pressor response, while bilateral injections of the SP NK-1 agonist, GR 73632, into the mNTS significantly increased the pressor and tachycardic responses during the contractions. Neither the antagonist nor the agonist, at the doses tested, affected the resting arterial pressure or heart rate. These data indicate that irSP are released from sites in the mNTS during the reflex pathways activated by isometric contractions and that they interact with NK-1 receptors in the area of the mNTS to affect the cardiovascular responses during the muscle pressor reflex.

The effectiveness of sodium fluoride iontophoresis in patients with sensitive teeth.

This study investigated the use of iontophoresis in altering the sensitivity level of teeth that displayed thermal and tactile hypersensitivity. A total of 95 teeth were treated with an iontophoresis instrument. Forty-eight of these teeth were treated with a placebo of deionized water, and 47 were treated with a 2% sodium fluoride solution. Two of the 47 teeth receiving sodium fluoride had identical pretreatment and posttreatment sensitivity ratings, while 40 teeth (85.1%) demonstrated a reduction in sensitivity. Twenty-nine of the 48 teeth receiving the placebo demonstrated no change in sensitivity. All teeth receiving the placebo were re-treated with sodium fluoride. Forty-seven (97.9%) responded with reduced levels of sensitivity.

Body fluid volumes in rats with mestranol-induced hypertension.

Because estrogens have been reported to produce sodium retention, this study investigated the possibility that hypertension in rats resulting from the ingestion of an estrogen used as an oral contraceptive could be due to increases in body fluid volumes. Female rats were given feed containing mestranol for 1, 3, and 6 mo; control rats were given the feed without mestranol. The mestranol-treated rats had higher arterial pressures than the controls only after 6 mo of treatment. Plasma volume, extracellular fluid volume, and total body water were measured in each rat by the distribution volumes of radioiodinated serum albumin, 35SO4, and tritiated water, respectively. Values for blood volume, interstitial fluid volume, and intracellular fluid volume were derived from these measurements. These body fluid volumes, expressed per 100 g of body weight, were not different between the mestranol-treated rats and their controls at any of the three treatment times. Due to differences in body weight and lean body mass between the mestranol-treated and the control rats, these volumes also were expressed per 100 g of lean body mass. Again, no differences were observed between the mestranol-treated rats and the control rats for any of these body fluid compartments at any of the treatment times. These studies, therefore, were unable to provide evidence that increases in body fluid volumes contributed to the elevated arterial pressure in this rat model of oral contraceptive hypertension.

Angiotensin receptors and pressor hyperresponsiveness in renal prehypertensive rabbits.

This study consisted of five different experiments with conscious rabbits. In experiment 1, the angiotensin II (ANG II) antagonist [Sar1-Ala8]ANG II infused iv into one-kidney rabbits with renal artery stenosis (RAS) of 3 days' duration, at a dose that blocked pressor responses to ANG II, did not decrease the exaggerated pressor responses to norepinephrine (NE). In experiment 2, captopril infused iv into one-kidney, 3-day, RAS rabbits blocked pressor hyperresponsiveness to NE, and the concurrent infusion of [Sar1-Ala8]ANG II did not reestablish pressor hyperresponsiveness, indicating that this ANG II analogue had no agonistic action to promote hyperresponsiveness to NE. In experiment 3, infusion of ANG II at a subpressor dose (6.7 pmol . min-1 . kg body wt-1) into normal rabbits resulted in pressor hyperresponsiveness to NE, which was blocked by [Sar1-Ala8]ANG II. Experiment 4 involved infusing [Sar1-Ala8]ANG II or [Sar1-Ile8]ANG II at various doses into 3-day RAS rabbits, to determine their abilities to attenuate the pressor responses to ANG II (100 ng/kg) and the pressor hyper-responses to NE (800 ng . min-1 . kg-1). [Sar1-Ile8]ANG II decreased the ANG II pressor responses at an ID50 dose of 64 +/- 5 (SEM) pmol . min-1 . kg-1 and attenuated the NE pressor hyper-response at an ID50 dose of 65 +/- 5 pmol . min-1 . kg-1; [Sar1-Ala8]ANG II diminished the ANG II pressor response at an ID50 dose of 757 +/- 247 and the NE pressor hyper-response at an ID50 dose of 10,061 +/- 944 pmol . min-1 . kg-1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Pressor responsiveness in renal prehypertensive rabbits with a denervated kidney.

Norepinephrine was infused iv at several doses into four groups of conscious rabbits (six per group), and the pressor responses were recorded. The groups were 3-day sham-operated rabbits; 3-day, two-kidney rabbits with unilateral renal artery stenosis (RAS); 3-day, two-kidney rabbits with unilateral renal denervation; and 3-day, two-kidney rabbits with unilateral renal denervation plus RAS of the denervated kidney. The rabbits with RAS of an innervated kidney and those with RAS of a denervated kidney had the same pressor responses to norepinephrine, which were greater than the pressor responses in the sham-operated rabbits or in the rabbits with a denervated kidney but without RAS. Four additional groups of similarly prepared rabbits were infused with norepinephrine at 800 ng/min/kg body wt, and mean arterial pressure and cardiac output were determined before and during norepinephrine infusion. The rabbits with RAS of an innervated or of a denervated kidney had greater increases in total peripheral resistance as well as in mean arterial pressure during norepinephrine infusion than did the two groups of rabbits without RAS. This indicated that the rabbits with RAS also had increased vascular responses to norepinephrine. The concentration of norepinephrine in six denervated kidneys was extremely low as compared to that of six innervated kidneys. Because renal denervation did not diminish pressor and vascular hyperresponsiveness in 3-day RAS rabbits, the signal that originates in the kidney following RAS and that results ultimately in pressor and vascular hyperresponsiveness is not mediated by renal nerves.

Pressor and vascular responsiveness in renal prehypertensive rabbits with a nonfiltering kidney.

This study examined the possibility that the renal tubules are the site of the sensors that respond to renal artery stenosis (RAS) and which initiate the events leading to pressor hyperresponsiveness. A nonfiltering kidney (NFK) was produced in 32 rabbits by 2 hr of total renal ischemia plus permanent ligation of the ureter; the opposite kidney remained undisturbed. Sixteen of these rabbits also received RAS of the NFK. An additional 16 rabbits received RAS without production of a NFK, and 16 more rabbits were sham-operated controls. In acute experiments 3 days later in conscious rabbits, infusions of norepinephrine at several doses resulted in greater increases in mean arterial pressure in the RAS rabbits, with filtering kidneys (2-K, 1-clip) and with NFKs (2-K, 1-clip with NFK), than in the NFK rabbits without RAS (2-K control with NFK) or in the control rabbits (2-K control). Measurements of cardiac output revealed greater increases in total peripheral resistance as well as in mean arterial pressure in response to norepinephrine in the RAS rabbits both without and with a NFK. Because production of a NFK in rabbits did not prevent the development of pressor and vascular hyperresponsiveness 3 days after RAS, these studies indicated that the renal sensors that detect changes in the kidney following RAS and which initiate the series of events leading to pressor and vascular hyperresponsiveness, probably are not located in the renal tubules.

Renin-angiotensin mechanisms in oral contraceptive hypertension in conscious rats.

Rats were placed on powdered chow containing either no additives (controls), mestranol (a synthetic estrogen), norethynodrel (a synthetic progestin), or both mestranol and norethynodrel. After 6 mo on these diets, catheters were placed in the carotid artery and jugular vein of each rat. An arterial blood sample was obtained for plasma renin activity (PRA), plasma renin concentration (PRC), and plasma renin substrate concentration (PRS). Mean arterial pressure was measured in each rat. The angiotensin II (ANG II) antagonist, [Sar1-Ile8]ANG II, was infused intravenously for 30 min while blood pressure was recorded. Rats treated with mestranol and/or norethynodrel had PRA and PRC values that were not different from the control rats; however, mestranol-treated rats and rats treated with mestranol plus norethynodrel had PRS values that were substantially (P less than 0.01) higher than the controls. Arterial pressures in rats treated with mestranol and with mestranol plus norethynodrel were significantly (P less than 0.01) elevated when compared with the controls and with the rats treated with norethynodrel alone. Infusion of the ANG II antagonist failed to alter arterial pressure in any of the groups of rats. These results indicated that, in the steroid combination found in the oral contraceptive Enovid, it is the estrogenic component that results in hypertension in this rat model. Also this study found no evidence that ANG II plays a role in maintaining the elevated arterial pressure following long-term treatment with mestranol in rats.

A fast-acting humoral factor mediates pressor hyperresponsiveness in deoxycorticosterone-salt rabbits.

Six rabbits were sham operated and were given water to drink (sham-water group); six additional rabbits were sham operated and were given saline to drink (sham-salt group); another six rabbits received an implant of deoxycorticosterone (DOCA) and were given water to drink (DOCA-water group); a final group of six rabbits received implants of DOCA and were given saline to drink (DOCA-salt group). Two weeks later, all four groups of rabbits had approximately the same mean arterial pressures, and the sham-salt, DOCA-water, and DOCA-salt groups all had plasma renin activity values less than the sham-water group. The DOCA-salt group had greater pressor responses to norepinephrine (NE) at several doses than did the other three groups of rabbits. In another group of six sham-water and six DOCA-salt rabbits, measurements of cardiac output before and during infusions of NE at 800 ng/min/kg body wt revealed no changes in cardiac output before or during NE infusion, but the DOCA-salt group had significantly greater increases in mean arterial pressure and total peripheral resistance during NE than did the sham-water group. In another group of six DOCA-salt rabbits, the pressor response to several doses of NE were determined during infusion of the angiotensin II (AII) antagonist, [Sar1, Ile8] AII; this AII antagonist failed to alter the enhanced pressor responses to NE. A final experiment examined pressor responses to NE in six normal rabbits before and after cross circulation of blood with six DOCA-salt rabbits. After blood cross circulation the normal rabbits had exaggerated pressor responses to NE at 5, 15, and 30 min, but not at 60 min. Similar cross-circulation experiments between six pairs of normal rabbits did not show any transfer of pressor hyperresponsiveness. These studies indicated that pressor and vascular hyperresponsiveness in DOCA-salt rabbits is conveyed by a fast-acting hormonal factor and that AII probably is not involved in mediating this hyperresponsiveness.

Pressor responsiveness to norepinephrine in rabbits with adrenal perturbations.

The purpose of this study was to examine pressor responsiveness in a rabbit model with adrenal perturbation. Adrenals in rabbits were stabbed with a needle, and the rabbits were given water (adrenal-water group) or 0.9% NaCl (adrenal-salt) to drink; additional rabbits were sham-operated and given water (sham-water group) or 0.9% NaCl (sham-salt group) to drink. Acute experiments were performed two weeks later on conscious rabbits. All four groups of rabbits had the same body weights, mean arterial pressures, heart rates, and plasma concentrations of Na+ and K+. Intravenous norepinephrine infusions at several doses produced greater pressor responses in the adrenal-water and adrenal-salt groups than in the sham-water or sham-salt groups. Administration 1-sarcosine-8-isoleucine angiotensin II ([Sar1, Ile8]Ang II) did not alter the pressor responses to norepinephrine in either the sham-water or the adrenal-salt groups. Cross-circulation of blood between adrenal-salt donor rabbits and normal recipient rabbits at 10 ml/min for 5 min resulted in enhanced pressor responses to norepinephrine in the recipients at 5 min after the cross-circulation. Similar cross-circulation experiments between sham-water donors and normal recipients did not alter the pressor responses to norepinephrine in the recipients. These studies demonstrated that rabbits with adrenal perturbations have pressor hyper-responsiveness to norepinephrine, which does not involve angiotensin II mechanisms, but is mediated by a fast-acting blood-borne factor.

Pressor hyperresponsiveness in saline-infused rabbits.

Conscious rabbits infused intravenously (i.v.) with isotonic saline at 1.5 to 1.8 ml/min for 24 hours had greater pressor responses to norepinephrine (NE) than did normal control rabbits. Infusion of the angiotension II (ANG II) antagonist [Sar1, Ile8] ANG II did not decrease the exaggerated pressor responses to NE in saline-infused rabbits. Measurements of cardiac output (CO) as well as the pressor responses to NE before and after saline infusion revealed that, although saline infusion increased the CO and decreased total peripheral resistance (TPR), CO did not change during NE infusion either before or after saline infusion, but NE produced significantly greater increases in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and TPR after saline infusion than before the saline infusion. The cross-circulation of blood at 10 ml/min for 5 minutes between saline-infused donor rabbits and normal recipient rabbits resulted in pressor hyperresponsiveness to NE in the normal recipients. Similar cross-circulation experiments between pairs of normal rabbits did not alter the pressor responses to NE. These studies provided direct evidence that expansion of body fluid volumes by saline infusion results in pressor and vascular hyperresponsiveness. There was no evidence to indicate that ANG II was involved in the mechanisms producing this pressor hyperresponsiveness. Some circulating hormonal factor, however, was involved in mediating the pressor hyperresponsiveness following saline infusion. The results of this study are compatible with the concept that natriuretic hormone may play a role in promoting pressor hyperresponsiveness in saline-expanded animals.

Pressor responses to vasopressin in rabbits with 3-day renal artery stenosis.

One-kidney rabbits were subjected to renal artery stenosis, and acute experiments were performed 3 days later on conscious animals; one-kidney rabbits without renal artery stenosis served as controls. Rabbits with 3-day renal artery stenosis were normotensive and had normal values for plasma renin activity. Intravenous infusion of arginine vasopressin at 5 mU.min-1.kg body wt-1 for 5 min resulted in a significantly (P less than 0.01) greater increase in mean arterial pressure and total peripheral resistance (TPR) in the renal artery stenosis rabbits than in the controls. Infusion of the angiotensin II (AII) competitive antagonist, [Sar1, Ile8]AII, before the vasopressin infusion abolished the hyperresponsiveness to vasopressin in the renal artery stenosis rabbits and resulted in changes in mean arterial pressure and TPR that were approximately of the same magnitude as the controls. Infusion of [SAr1, Ile8]AII before vasopressin infusion in control rabbits did not alter the cardiovascular responses to vasopressin. Because previous studies have shown that 3-day renal artery stenosis rabbits have exaggerated pressor responses to norepinephrine and that this hyperresponsiveness to norepinephrine is blocked by [Sar1, Ile8]-AII, the present study with vasopressin provided evidence that the increased responsiveness in this model is not specific for a single pressor agent. These studies also demonstrated that AII plays an important role in mediating the exaggerated pressor responses to vasopressin in this prehypertensive model.

Absence of an antihypertensive effect of 12 hour infusions of an angiotensin antagonist in chronic renal hypertensive rabbits.

The effect of a continuous 12-hour infusion of a saline solution of the angiotensin II antagonist, [Sar1, Ile8] angiotensin II, on mean arterial pressure was studied in 11 conscious New Zealand white rabbits with hypertension induced by renal artery stenosis and contralateral nephrectomy, and in 11 normotensive control rabbits. Also, the effect on mean arterial pressure of infusing saline alone for 12 hours was examined in 4 hypertensive rabbits and in 8 normotensive controls. There were no significant differences in the changes in mean arterial pressure among the 4 groups of rabbits at any hourly period during these infusions. These studies were unable to provide evidence that angiotensin II is involved in maintaining the elevated arterial pressure in this hypertensive animal model.

Recovery rate of the cardiovascular system in rabbits following short-term halothane anesthesia.

Mean arterial pressure, cardiac output and heart rate were determined in eight male New Zealand white rabbits while conscious and after being anesthetized with halothane plus nitrous oxide for 15 minutes. Delivery of the anesthetic agent was stopped and the measurement repeated at 15, 30, 60 and 210 minutes. In a separate experiment blood samples were obtained for plasma renin activity in six rabbits before anesthesia, after 15 minutes of halothane plus nitrous oxide administration, and again 210 minutes after cessation of the anesthesia. Later, this experiment was repeated with the same rabbits except that they were allowed to breathe room air instead of the anesthesia. The halothane anesthesia resulted in decreased mean arterial pressure and cardiac output, but these returned to the preanesthetic levels by 15 minutes after stopping the anesthesia. Heart rate increased during halothane administration, and although it tended to return toward control levels after cessation of the halothane, heart rate was still elevated 210 minutes later. Halothane plus nitrous oxide produced an increase in plasma renin activity, which then subsided to normal by 210 minutes following anesthesia; breathing room air did not result in increases in plasma renin activity. These studies revealed that although short-term anesthesia with halothane plus nitrous oxide resulted in cardiovascular changes in rabbits, after cessation of the anesthetic agent the cardiovascular system quickly returned to normal.

Pressor responses to norepinephrine in rabbits with 3-day and 30-day renal artery stenosis. The role of angiotensin II.

Pressor responses to norepinephrine (NE) infusions were examined in normal rabbits, in rabbits with renal artery stenosis of over 30 days' duration (chronic renal hypertensive rabbits), and in rabbits with renal artery stenosis of 3 days' duration (3-day clipped rabbits). The 3-day clipped rabbits did not have hypertension, but they showed the same increased pressor responses to NE as did the chronic renal hypertensive rabbits, which was about 2.5 times that of the normal rabbits. Plasma renin activity (PRA) was the same in the 3-day clipped rabbits as in the normal group, but in the chronic renal hypertensive rabbits the PRA was significantly below normal. Infusions of angiotensin II (A II) in either subpressor or pressor amounts potentiated the pressor responses to NE in normal rabbits, whereas, in 3-day clipped rabbits and chronic renal hypertensive rabbits, A II in subpressor or pressor doses did not alter the pressor responses to NE. Infusion of the A II antagonist, [1-sarcosine, 8-isoleucine]angiotensin II, did not alter the pressor responses of normal rabbits to NE, but this A II analogue completely abolished the pressor hyperresponsiveness to NE in the 3-day clipped rabbits and greatly reduced the NE hyperresponsiveness in the chronic renal hypertensive rabbits; this A II antagonist did not alter the control arterial pressure in any of the three groups of rabbits. These studies show that the increased pressor response to NE in rabbits with renal artery stenosis occurs before the onset of hypertension and thus is not merely a result of the hypertension. Also, these results provide evidence that A II plays an important role in the increased pressor responses to NE in hypertensive and prehypertensive rabbits.