Unravelling the pharmacological profile of the canine external carotid vasodilator '5-HT1-like" receptors: coexistence of sympatho-inhibitory 5-HT1B and postjunctional 5-HT7 receptors
Cm. Villalon et al., Unravelling the pharmacological profile of the canine external carotid vasodilator '5-HT1-like" receptors: coexistence of sympatho-inhibitory 5-HT1B and postjunctional 5-HT7 receptors, N-S ARCH PH, 363(1), 2001, pp. 73-80
It has been suggested that the external carotid vasodilatation produced by
serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) in anaesthetised dogs with intact vag
osympathetic trunks is mediated by sympatho-inhibitory '5-HT1D' receptors a
nd musculotropic '5-HT1-like' receptors. The present study has re-analysed
this suggestion with regard to the classification schemes recently proposed
by the NC-IUPHAR subcommittee on 5-HT receptors. In pentobarbital-anaesthe
tised dogs with intact vagosympathetic trunks, 1-min intracarotid (i.c.) in
fusions of 5-carboxamidotryptamine (5-CT; 0.01-0.3 mug/min), 5-HT (0.3-30 m
ug/min), 5-methoxytryptamine (5-MeO-T; 1-100 mug/min) or sumatriptan (1-100
mug/min) dose-dependently increased the external carotid blood flow withou
t affecting blood pressure or heart rate. The selective 5-HT1D receptor ago
nist, PNU-142633 (1-1000 mug/min), was essentially inactive. After mesulerg
ine (300 mug/kg, i.v.), an antagonist at cardiovascular 5-HT7 receptors, th
e above responses to 5-HT, 5-CT and 5-MeO-T were blocked, whilst those to s
umatriptan remained unaffected. In contrast, after the 5-HT1B/1D receptor a
ntagonist, GR127935 (10 mug/kg, i.v.), the responses to 5-MT, 5-CT and 5-Me
O-T were not affected, but those to sumatriptan were abolished. Furthermore
, after the selective 5-HT1B receptor antagonist, SB224289 (300 mug/kg, i.v
.), the responses to 5-MT, 5-CT and 5-MeO-T were significantly enhanced, wh
ereas those to sumatriptan were abolished. Interestingly, the responses to
all these agonists remained unmodified after the selective 5-HT1D receptor
antagonist, BRL15572 (300 mug/kg, i.v.). The above results suggest that the
'5-HT1-like' receptors, which mediate canine external carotid vasodilatati
on, display the pharmacological profile of sympatho-inhibitory 5-HT1B recep
tors and musculotropic 5-HT7 receptors, and confirm the existence of vasoco
nstrictor 5-HT1B receptors.