We examined the effects of proadrenomedullin-derived peptides on the release of adrenal catecholamines in response to cholinergic stimuli in pentobarbital sodium-anesthetized dogs. Drugs were administered into the adrenal gland through the phrenicoabdominal artery. Splanchnic nerve stimulation (1, 2, and 3 Hz) and ACh injection (0.75, 1.5, and 3 μg) produced frequency- or dose-dependent increases in adrenal catecholamine output. These responses were unaffected by infusion of adrenomedullin (1, 3, and 10 ng ⋅ kg−1 ⋅ min−1) or its selective antagonist adrenomedullin-(22—52) (5, 15, and 50 ng ⋅ kg−1 ⋅ min−1). Proadrenomedullin NH2-terminal 20 peptide (PAMP; 5, 15, and 50 ng ⋅ kg−1 ⋅ min−1) suppressed both the splanchnic nerve stimulation- and ACh-induced increases in catecholamine output in a dose-dependent manner. PAMP also suppressed the catecholamine release responses to the nicotinic agonist 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium (0.5, 1, and 2 μg) and to muscarine (0.5, 1, and 2 μg), although the muscarine-induced response was relatively resistant to PAMP. These results suggest that PAMP, but not adrenomedullin, can act as an inhibitory regulator of adrenal catecholamine release in vivo.
Effect of muscarinic antagonists on adrenal catecholamine release in response to splanchnic nerve stimulation in anethetized dogs