The effects of piperoxan on uptake of noradrenaline and overflow of transmitter in the isolated blood perfused spleen of the cat.

1 The competitive alpha-adrenoceptor blocking agent, piperoxan, in concentrations up to 2 x 10(-4) M, produced large dose-dependent increases in transmitter overflow from the isolated blood perfused spleen of the cat following nerve stimulation at 10 hertz. 2 At concentrations greater than 2 x 10(-4) M, piperoxan produced a rise in perfusion pressure, a contraction of the splenic capsule, and a marked dose-dependent decrease in transmitter overflow. 3 Phenoxybenzamine (10(-4) M) and desmethylimipramine (3 x 10(-5) M) produced further increases in transmitter overflow when added after piperoxan. 4 Piperoxan (5.8 to 6.6 x 10(-6) M) had no effect on the recovery of 3H in the venous blood following the close arterial infusion or injection of (3H)-(--)-noradrenaline, indicating that the drug does not inhibit uptake of the amine. 5 Piperoxan produced dose-dependent inhibition of responses of the splenic vasculature to close arterial injection of 1 microgram of (--)-noradrenaline but was much less effective at inhibiting responses to nerve stimulation. At 2 x 10(-6) M piperoxan produced a considerable reduction of the response to injected noradrenaline but potentiated the response to nerve stimulation. 6 In isolated strips of cat splenic capsule, piperoxan produced a shift to the right of the dose-response curve to noradrenaline with no change of the maximum response. There was no evidence of a postsynaptic sensitizing effect of the type observed in the rat vas deferens.