Mechanisms of inactivation of noradrenaline in the iris sphincter, tracheal muscle and facial artery of cattle: implications for beta-adrenoceptor-mediated responses.

1 The role of neuronal and extraneuronal pathways of amine inactivation in regulating the inhibitory actions of noradrenaline was investigated in three bovine smooth muscle preparations in which the primary adrenoceptor is of the beta-type.2 The extraneuronal uptake inhibitor, 17beta-oestradiol, sensitized the inhibitory responses to noradrenaline in the facial artery, the iris sphincter and in tracheal muscle preparations, indicating a major role for non-neuronal processes in agonist-inactivation in all three preparations. Cocaine also increased responses to noradrenaline, pointing to a role for neuronal uptake either as a terminating mechanism or as a process limiting access of exogenous agonist molecules to their site of action.3 Cocaine did not enhance significantly responses to isoprenaline, a potent beta-adrenoceptor agonist which is not taken up neuronally. Further, relaxations to metaraminol, a sympathomimetic amine which is taken up extraneuronally, but much less so than noradrenaline, were also less enhanced by 17beta-oestradiol in the three preparations tested. These findings support the specificity of action of cocaine and 17beta-oestradiol as neuronal and extraneuronal uptake inhibitors in the present experiments.4 Studies of the uptake of [(3)H]-noradrenaline revealed that 17beta-oestradiol reduced the uptake of amine in the presence of cocaine, confirming a cocaine-resistant site of action for the steroid in all three preparations.5 It is concluded that extraneuronal uptake sites are located sufficiently close to the beta-adrenoceptors to modulate the concentration and duration of action of noradrenaline at these sites of action. It is proposed that in smooth muscles which contain a preponderance of beta-receptors, extraneuronal metabolism is a key event in terminating the inhibitory effects produced.