Vascular uptake of catecholamines in perfused lungs of the rat occurs by the same process as Uptake1 in noradrenergic neurones.

The aim of the study was to determine whether the uptake process for catecholamines in rat lungs is Uptake1, Uptake2 or a distinct process with some properties of both Uptake1 and Uptake2. The initial rate of uptake of noradrenaline was measured in isolated lungs of rats perfused with 2 nmol/l 3H-(-)-noradrenaline for 2 min with monoamine oxidase (MAO) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibited, in the absence or presence of drugs that are substrates or inhibitors of Uptake1 or Uptake2 or of alterations in the ionic composition of the Krebs solution. The rank order of the IC50 values for inhibition of uptake of noradrenaline in the lungs by drugs that are substrates or inhibitors of Uptake1 or Uptake2 is compatible with the conclusion that uptake of catecholamines in rat lungs occurs by Uptake1, and not by a process with the properties of Uptake2. Additional evidence was provided by the marked inhibition of uptake in the lungs when the Na+ concentration in the Krebs solution was decreased from 143 to 25 mmol/l and by the lack of inhibition when the K+ concentration was increased from 5.9 mmol/l to either 10.9 or 20.9 mmol/l. Further experiments were included in the study to obtain data additional to histological evidence (Hughes et al. 1969; Nicholas et al. 1974) regarding the site of Uptake1 in rat lungs. Pretreatment of rats with either 6-hydroxydopamine (to destroy noradrenergic neurones) or reserpine (to inhibit synaptic vesicle uptake) had no effect on the deamination or accumulation of noradrenaline in lungs perfused with 3H-noradrenaline (COMT inhibited).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)