Role of Ca in isoproterenol-induced increases in cAMP levels in rat uterus.

The influence of alteration in the Ca2+ environment of the tissue on isoproterenol-induced increases in cAMP levels and relaxation was studied in rat uterus. In muscles depolarized with 47.5 mM K+ (with or without Na+), the ability of isoproterenol to increase cAMP levels and to produce relaxation was found to be inversely related to external calcium concentration. The pretreatment of the muscle with D600 or EGTA restored the cAMP response to isoproterenol in the depolarized uterus to a level observed in nondepolarized muscle. The study with Ro 20-1724, a phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor indicated that the failure of isoproterenol to elevate cAMP levels in the depolarized uterus could not be related to the activation of PDE by Ca2+. The exposure of rat uterus to a zero-Ca2+ solution accentuated the increases in cAMP levels produced by isoproterenol. These results have raised the question of a possible regulatory role of Ca2+ in beta-adrenoceptor-induced increases in cAMP levels in uterine smooth muscle.