Electrophysiological and electrochemical analysis of the secretion of ATP and noradrenaline from the sympathetic nerves in rat tail artery: effects of alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonists and antagonists and noradrenaline reuptake blockers.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether or not nerve impulses release ATP and noradrenaline in parallel from the sympathetic nerve terminals of the rat tail artery. The extracellularly recorded excitatory junction current (EJC) was used to study, pulse by pulse, the release of ATP. An electrochemical method was used to study online the nerve stimulation-induced rise in the extracellular concentration of endogenous noradrenaline at the probe, a carbon fibre electrode (CF). This parameter, which does not directly represent noradrenaline release, but reflects release minus clearance, has been termed delta[NA]CF. The effects of a number of pharmacological agents on the EJCs were examined both at 0.1 and 2 Hz, and the effects on the EJC response to 100 pulses at 2 Hz compared with that on the delta[NA]CF response. Clonidine and xylazine were used as alpha 2-agonists, yohimbine and idazoxan as alpha 2-antagonists and desipramine and cocaine as blockers of noradrenaline reuptake. Most of these agents had unwanted side effects, especially at higher concentrations. However, clonidine and xylazine depressed at lower concentrations the EJC and delta[NA]CF responses to about the same extent; these effects were partially or completely reversed by yohimbine. Yohimbine or idazoxan did not affect the EJCs at 0.1 Hz but enhanced the EJC and delta[NA]CF responses to 100 pulses at 2 Hz to the same extent. All effects of desipramine (1 microM) seemed explainable as a result of block of noradrenaline reuptake, while cocaine (10 microM) in addition exerted an 'unspecific' depressant (probably local anesthetic) effect. Under control conditions, both agents depressed the EJC but dramatically enhanced the delta[NA]CF response to 100 pulses at 2 Hz. Addition of yohimbine prevented the depressant effect of desipramine on the EJCs completely and reduced that of cocaine, but increased their effects on the delta[NA]CF response. These results are compatible with the view that ATP and noradrenaline are released in parallel from the sympathetic nerve terminals of this tissue. The different, and under some conditions even opposite, effects of desipramine or cocaine on the EJC and delta[NA]CF responses are explainable in terms of the known post-secretory effects of these agents.