Antagonism of an indirectly acting agonist: block by propranolol and sotalol of the action of tyramine on rat heart.

Some agonists act indirectly in the sense that they cause the release of a second substance that brings about the response finally observed. An antagonist which competitively inhibits the action of the intermediate substance will also reduce the response to the indirectly acting agonist, provided that the receptors are freely accessible. A simple mass-law model for indirect antagonism of this kind is presented, and its predictions are compared with the results obtained in an experimental study of the influence of propranolol and sotalol on the inotropic response of isolated rat atria to tyramine. While there is reasonable qualitative agreement, the fit is not exact and reasons for this are discussed.