Uptake and metabolism of noradrenaline by the mesenteric arteries of the dog.

Uptake and metabolism of tritiated noradrenaline by the mesenteric arteries of the dog and concomitant behaviour changes in endogenous noradrenaline are described. Posterior mesenteric artery strips were incubated for 30 min in Krebs solution containing (-)-7-3H-noradrenaline (1,084 muM); suitable pretreatments and/or preincubations were performed to study the influence of some drugs on these parameters. The atrial strips showed a high capacity to retain, accumulate and metabolize exogenous noradrenaline. At the concentration of noradrenaline studied, neuronal uptake and deamination represented the main inactivation mechanism, however, when neuronal uptake was blocked, extraneuronal deamination and o-methylation played a more important role, o-Methylation represented a vicarious enzymatic route when monoamine oxidase activity was inhibited. Iproniazid pretreatment increased markedly the endogenous noradrenaline content of the mesenteric arteries. During incubation with tritiated noradrenaline both an outflow of endogenous noradrenaline and an inflow of tritiated noradrenaline were observed.