Pharmacological analysis of sympathetic function in the embryonic chick heart.

Sympathetic nerve cells enter the embryonic chick heart on the fifth day in ovo, but it is uncertain when these nerves become functional. Using pharmacological probes known to affect the embryonic circulation, sympathetic nerve function was examined at various stages of development. Exogenous norepinephrine elicited cardioacceleration in the hearts of embryos with intact extraembryonic circulation both before (stage 20-24) and after (stage 28-32) sympathetic innervation of the heart, and this acceleration could be inhibited by propranolol and practolol. In contrast, ganglionic stimulation with 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium iodide (DMPP) elicited cardioacceleration only after stages 27-28 (i.e., after sympathetic innervation), producing a 25-30% increase in heart rate over the predrug levels of 148.7 +/- 1.8 beats/min. DMPP-elicited positive chronotropy was reduced by beta-receptor antagonists, hexamethonium, guanethidine (GuE), and tetrodotoxin. In preparations of the embryonic thorax in which the innervated heart was separated from brain and adrenal influences, DMPP elicited a GuE-sensitive cardioacceleration. It is concluded that during chick embryonic development, no more than a 1-day interval exists between the appearance of sympathetic nerves in the heart and the onset of neuronal function in that organ.