Effects of clenbuterol and salbutamol on tissue rubidium uptake in vivo.

In anesthetized rats, injection of the beta 2-adrenoceptor (beta 2-AR) agonist clenbuterol (0.45 mumol/kg) caused a marked stimulation of 86RbCl (Rb) uptake by skeletal muscle, but had no effect on other tissues; soleus muscle showed the largest (144% increase) response. Injection of another beta 2-AR agonist (salbutamol 0.45 mumol/kg) had no effect on Rb uptake by any tissue except soleus muscle (83%). Both agonists increased body (colonic) temperature to the same extent. A 3-day treatment with salbutamol as a dietary admixture had no effect on body weight, muscle mass, or tissue Rb uptake, whereas the same treatment using clenbuterol produced significant increases in body weight and muscle mass and significant decreases in Rb uptake in three of the four muscle groups studied; Rb uptake in soleus was not affected. In another experiment, the short-term effect of clenbuterol injection on muscle Rb uptake was found to be resistant to a high dose (20 mg/kg) of the selective beta 2-AR antagonist ICI 118551. It was concluded that the selective effects of short-term administration of clenbuterol on muscle Rb uptake, coupled with its effects over 3 days on Rb uptake and muscle hypertrophy, implicate beta-AR modulation of cation transport (possibly via Na,K-adenosine triphosphatase [ATPase] activity) in the anabolic effects of clenbuterol on muscle protein deposition. Since the stimulation of Rb uptake by clenbuterol was resistant to high doses of a selective beta 2-AR antagonist and since salbutamol had little or no effect on muscle hypertrophy or Rb uptake, it is suggested that clenbuterol may exert its effects via an atypical beta-AR.