Leukocyte mobilization from the guinea pig spleen by muscarinic cholinergic stimulation

Important interactions between the immune system and the nervous and endocrine systems have become increasingly accepted. The present results demonstrate that the cholinergic agonist carbacholine greatly increased the number of granulocytes and lymphocytes in the splenic venous blood, but not arterial blood, shortly after administration to guinea pigs. The effect was largely blocked by pretreatment with atropine. In contrast, animals treated with indomethacin had a decreased number of leukocytes in both splenic venous and arterial blood. A decrease in relative splenic weight due to carbacholine treatment was also blocked by atropine. However, cholinergic leukocyte mobilization, or that previously observed after adrenergic stimulation, may not be caused by capsule contraction since it is not accompanied by mobilization of erythrocytes. Furthermore, indomethacin, which potentiates the response of splenic smooth muscle to adrenergic stimuli, blocked the effect of noradrenaline (NA) on leukocyte mobilization.     

The effects of physostigmine on the oxygen uptake in rat brain tissue.

Physostigmine in a dose of 0.1 mg/kg i.v. expressly stimulated the oxygen uptake in the rat cerebral cortex. This effect was blocked by propranolol and seems be mediated by catecholamines. Since atropine also antagonized the stimulant effect of physostigmine, it appears that the action of physostigmine is primarily cholinergic and that the adrenergic effect is a secondary phenomenon. The higher dose of physostigmine (0.4 mg/kg i.v.) caused a depression of rat brain oxygen uptake.     

The effects of physostigmine on the oxygen uptake in rat brain tissue

Summary Physostigmine in a dose of 0.1 mg/kg i.v. expressly stimulated the oxygen uptake in the rat cerebral cortex. This effect was blocked by propranolol and seems be mediated by catecholamines. Since atropine also antagonized the stimulant effect of physostigmine, it appears that the action of physostigmine is primarily cholinergic and that the adrenergic effect is a secondary phenomenon. The higher dose of physostigmine (0.4 mg/kg i.v.) caused a depression of rat brain oxygen uptake.This work was supported by a grant from Serbian Republic Scientific Fund (ZMNU SR Srbija), Belgrade (Yugoslavia).The authors wish to acknowledge the skilful technical assistance of Lj. Krsti.     

Muscarinic involvement in vascular and adrenal medullary responses to splanchnic nerve stimulation in conscious calves

Stimulation of the peripheral end of the right splanchnic nerve (4 Hz for 10 min) in the presence of hexamethonium caused a small but significant rise in mean aortic blood pressure which was subsequently abolished by atropine. There were also small but significant increases in the outputs of catecholamines, [Met⁵]-enkephalins and corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) from the right adrenal gland. The catecholamine response was roughly halved after atropine while the outputs of enkephalins and CRF were unaffected. It is concluded that splanchnic sympathetic postganglionic neurones supplying the vasculature are completely blocked by cholinergic blockade whereas adrenal medullary responses persist in an attenuated form.     

Die Blutdruckwirkung des N-Isopropyl-nor-adrenalins

Summary N-Isopropyl-nor-adrenaline (aleudrine), which normally reduces the blood pressure, exerts after treatment with parasympathetic stimulants, especially after pilocarpine, an increase of the blood pressure, which is considerably stronger than that produced by adrenaline. This pressor effect of aleudrine is, contrary to the hypotensive action, cholinergic as it is abolished by atropine, whereas it remains fully unaffected by nicotinization. The pressor effect of aleudrine thus corresponds to the analogous action of choline, the mechanism of which was elucidated byForst.

---

---

(Aleudrin)     

Contraction of the large conductance coronary artery produced by acetylcholine in the mini pig

Summary In the mini pig, acetylcholine reduced the coronary blood flow and constricted the large coronary artery. These effects were abolished by atropine, but not by phentolamine, suggesting that cholinergic mechanisms may be involved in coronary artery vasoconstriction.     

Experimental catalepsy: Influences of cholinergic transmission in restraint-induced catalepsy

Summary Possible cholinergic mechanisms in experimental catalepsy were evaluated by using the pinch-induced model in mice. In control, saline-injected mice, the median number of attempts needed to achieve a criterion level of catalepsy was 6. All 3 dose levels of physostigmine reduced this median to about 2 trials; neostigmine did not significantly reduce the number of trials. Opposite effects were obtained with atropine, with which all 3 doses tested increased the number of trials needed to cause catalepsy, and at the higher doses (5 and 10 mg/kg) most of the mice (80%) became insusceptible; atropine methyl bromide had no such effects. Thus, this kind of catalepsy may be mediated by cholinergic mechanisms that are central and not peripheral.     

Postnatal development of adrenergic and cholinergic sensitivity in the isolated rat atria

The sensitivity to adrenergic drugs in isolated rat atria increased with the postnatal development. The cholinergic chronotropic sensitivity did not further change after birth.     

Postnatal development of adrenergic and cholinergic sensitivity in the isolated rat atria

Summary The sensitivity to adrenergic drugs in isolated rat atria increased with the postnatal development. The cholinergic chronotropic sensitivity did not further change after birth.     

Sympathetic, muscarinic vasodilation in cranial vessels of the cat

Pressor responses evoked by stimulation of the preganglionic sympathetic trunk of the feline superior cervical ganglion have been recorded in vivo from the vascular bed perfused by one external carotid and the vertebral artery. When vasoconstrictor activity is blocked and potential vasodilator activity enhanced by close, intracarotid injection of guanethidine and prostaglandin F2 alpha respectively, stimulation evokes a weak pressor response followed, on cessation of stimulation, by a prolonged vasodilation lasting for 6-8 min. The magnitude and duration of the poststimulation vasodilation was reduced significantly by atropine. Due to the prolonged nature of the vasodilation, it is unlikely that a sympathetic cholinergic vasodilation in the classical sense is involved.     

Nonsympathetic dilator innervation of cat cerebral arteries.

The results presented provide strong support for the presence of vasodilator innervation in the cat cerebral arteries. The dilator innervation is neither adrenergic nor cholinergic and does not originate in the superior cervical ganglia. The nature of the vasodilator transmitter is unidentified. Such innervation, however, may be involved in the regulation of cerebral blood flow, especially in view of the capability of some cat cerebral vessels to develop intrinsic muscle tone.     

A comparative study of the innervation of the choroid plexus in amphibia

The aminergic and cholinergic innervation of choroid plexuses in three species of amphibia was investigated. Plexuses of the Japanese toad and the bullfrog had poor innervation by adrenergic nerves of sympathetic origin, but in the clawed toad, these plexuses were heavily innervated by adrenergic axons from ganglion cells located in the plexus stroma. Nerve fibers positive for acetylcholinesterase were not found in the plexuses, except for a few fibers with very weak enzyme activity in the clawed toad.     

On the mechanism of the amphetamine induced vasodilatation at the rat's cerebral cortex

Summary Cerebral cortical blood flow was measured with the hydrogen clearance technique. It was found that the increase in CoBF induced by amphetamine is blocked by atropine or chlorpromazine.This work was supported by grants from Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas and Consejo de Investigaciones de la Provincia de Santa Fé, Argentina.     

Comparative cytochemical and pharmacological studies on the cholinergic innervation of the branchial heart of the cephalopodSepia officinalis (L.)

Summary The dense motor innervation of the obliquely striated muscle cells in the branchial heart of Coleoida is composed of activating and inhibiting parts. The inhibiting cholinergic system investigated in this study is characterized histo- and cytochemically by a high acetylcholinesterase activity (EC 3.1.1.7) in the glycocalices of the nerve fibers with transparent synaptic vesicles, the muscle cells and, to a lesser extent, the ovoid interstitial cells, the functions of which are endocytosis and storage of catabolic substances. The pharmacological results from the isolated organ indicate a more nicotinic type of Ach-receptor, which can be reversibly blocked by D-tubocurarine and -bungarotoxin, but not with the same intensity by tetraethylammonium or atropine.     

A comparative study of the innervation of the choroid plexus in amphibia

Summary The aminergic and cholinergic innervation of choroid plexuses in three species of amphibia was investigated. Plexuses of the Japanese toad and the bullfrog had poor innervation by adrenergic nerves of sympathetic origin, but in the clawed toad, these plexuses were heavily innervated by adrenergic axons from ganglion cells located in the plexus stroma. Nerve fibers positive for acetylcholinesterase were not found in the plexuses, except for a few fibers with very weak enzyme activity in the clawed toad.Acknowledgment. The authors are very grateful to Prof. T. Wasano (Professor emeritus of Kyushu University) for his encouragement and advice during the course of the present work.     

Fluorogenic amines in the notochords of chick embryos treated by cholinergics]

The investigation of 3 day old notochords by the fluorescence method of Falck and Owman showed an increase of the fluorescence after treatment of the chick embryos at 48 hrs of incubation, with nicotine sulfate or carbachol. The addition of norepinephrine or L-Dopa emphasized the formaldehyde induced fluorescence. The simultaneous treatment with a cholinergic agent and atropine, propranolol or reserpine decreased or suppressed the fluorescence. These results demonstrate the existence of a relationship between the treatment with a cholinergic agent and the amount of chordal biogenic amines.     

Sympathetic,muscarinic vasodilation in cranial vessels of the cat

Summary Pressor responses evoked by stimulation of the preganglionic sympathetic trunk of the feline superior cervical ganglion have been recorded in vivo from the vascular bed perfused by one external carotid and the vertebral artery. When vasoconstrictor activity is blocked and potential vasodilator activity enhanced by close, intracarotid injection of guanethidine and prostaglandin F₂ respectively, stimulation evokes a weak pressor response followed, on cessation of stimulation, by a prolonged vasodilation lasting for 6–8 min. The magnitude and duration of the poststimulation vasodilation was reduced significantly by atropine. Due to the prolonged nature of the vasodilation, it is unlikely that a sympathetic cholinergic vasodilation in the classical sense is involved.     

Relaxation of isolated rabbit veins mediated by latent histamine H2-receptors

Summary Isolated rabbit veins preconstricted by either norepinephrine, methoxamine or potassium were relaxed by histamine in the presence of mepyramine, a histamine H₁-antagonist. The relaxation was not antagonized by atropine, propranolol and indomethacin but by an H₂-antagonist cimetidine. It is likely that histamine relaxes the rabbit veins through H₂-receptors.     

The effect of shock on blood oxidation-reduction potential

Oxidation-reduction (redox) potential measurements were made in the blood of rabbits subjected to hemorrhagic shock followed by treatment with a mild oxidizing agent (albumin). Control redox potential reading corrected for pH was –8.8±1.3 millivolts (mV) in arterial blood (A) and –18.0±2.0 mV in venous blood (V). This A-V difference indicated that hydrogen equivalents coming from muscle and other tissues were partially consumed in the lungs. A 20-mV drop on the V and a 13 mV on the A side was seen after shock. This did not fully return to control 2 h after return of the shed blood. Infusion of 2 g of albumin/kg/h raised the V redox potential to control, but it returned to untreated levels when the albumin was discontinued. The reductive load imposed on the animal by shock appeared to be large and not readily reversed by reperfusion or by the quantity of albumin given. Thus, it may be concluded that cellular respiration had not been adequately restored. This reductive load may impede recovery by suppression of cellular respiration and other cell and organ functions.     

Modulator role of prostaglandins (Pg) in adrenergic neurotransmission in carotid sinus]

In Rabbit carotid sinus, the presence of sympathetic nerve endings capable of releasing noradrenaline has been demonstrated. The release of NA in response to sympathetic nerve stimulation was decreased by PgE2 and a precursor of Pg (arachidonic acid) but was strongly increased by an inhibitor of Pg biosynthesis (indomethacin). The experiments carried out demonstrated that freshly synthesized Pg acts in the same way as exogenous Pg and suggested that Pg could have a regulating effect on adrenergic neurotransmission in carotid sinus. The role of this regulating mechanism in the physiology of carotid sinus has been discussed.