Parasympathetic and adrenergic contractile responses in canine trachea and bronchus

1983 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Leff ◽  
N. M. Munoz ◽  
S. G. Hendrix

We compared the sympathetic and parasympathetic contractile responses of tracheal and third-order bronchial smooth muscle simultaneously in 26 dogs in situ. Stimulus-response curves were generated by bilateral stimulation of the cervical vagus nerves in five dogs to determine the parameters (20 V, 15 Hz, 2-ms duration) causing maximal parasympathetic contraction in trachea and bronchus. In six adrenal-intact (ADi) and five adrenalectomized (ADx) dogs, sympathetically mediated alpha-adrenergic contraction was studied after muscarinic and beta-adrenergic blockade by administering intravenous (iv) 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium iodide (DMPP). In ADi dogs, the maximal alpha-adrenergic contractile response to iv DMPP was 67.3 +/- 14.8% of the maximal parasympathetic response in trachea and 112 +/- 21% of the maximal parasympathetic response in bronchus (P less than 0.03). In ADx dogs, the maximal alpha-adrenergic-to-parasympathetic stimulation ratios were 17.6 +/- 1.3% in trachea and 41.4 +/- 2.5% in bronchus (P less than 0.001). Comparable relationships were also obtained in pharmacological studies of alpha-adrenergic and cholinergic responses in trachea and bronchus. We conclude that there is substantial heterogeneity in the physiological and pharmacological cholinergic and alpha-adrenergic contractile properties in trachea and bronchus. Relative to cholinergic contraction, both circulating catecholamines and sympathetic innervation cause substantially greater alpha-adrenergic contraction in bronchus than for tracheal smooth muscle.

1985 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 1176-1188 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Leff ◽  
N. M. Munoz ◽  
J. Tallet ◽  
A. C. David ◽  
M. A. Cavigelli ◽  
...  

We studied the autonomic response characteristics of airways in 65 swine in vivo. Tracheal smooth muscle response was measured isometrically in situ; bronchial response was measured simultaneously as change in airway resistance and dynamic compliance. To determine the optimal resting length at which maximal tracheal contraction was obtained, length-tension studies were generated in four animals using maximal electrical stimulation of the vagus nerves determined from stimulus-response characteristics in eight other swine. Pharmacological studies were performed in 25 animals to determine the relative potency and intrinsic activity of agonists (acetylcholine greater than histamine much greater than norepinephrine) causing contraction of trachea and bronchial airways. In 13 swine, the effects of autonomic stimulation were studied by intravenous administration of dimethylphenylpiperazinium (DMPP) after muscarinic blockade with 1.5 mg/kg iv atropine. Tracheal contraction caused by topical application of 3.4 X 10(-4) mol histamine (13.4 +/- 1.54 g/cm) was 96 +/- 7.2% blocked by 25 micrograms/kg iv DMPP in adrenal-intact animals; minimal relaxation was demonstrated in adrenalectomized animals, indicating absence of substantial sympathetic innervation to porcine trachea. Nonadrenergic innervation was not demonstrated. After beta-adrenergic blockade, sympathetic stimulation caused alpha-adrenergic contraction in bronchial airways but not in trachea. These data define the unique response characteristics of the airways of swine and demonstrate their utility for acute experimental study of airway responses in vivo.


1987 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 2008-2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Murphy ◽  
N. M. Munoz ◽  
C. A. Hirshman ◽  
J. S. Blake ◽  
A. R. Leff

The comparative effects of contractile agonists and physiological stimulation of the tracheal and bronchial smooth muscle (BSM) response were studied isometrically in situ in five Basenji-greyhound (BG) and six mongrel dogs. Frequency-response curves generated by bilateral stimulation of the vagus nerves (0–20 Hz, 15–20 V, 2-ms duration) elicited greater maximal contraction in mongrel trachea (36.8 +/- 8.1 vs. 26.9 +/- 4.0 g/cm; P less than 0.02) and exhibited greater responsiveness in mongrel BSM (half-maximal response to electrical stimulation 3.0 +/- 1.1 vs. 7.0 +/- 0.5 Hz; P less than 0.05) compared with BG dogs. However, muscarinic sensitivity to intravenous methacholine (MCh) was substantially greater in BG dogs; MCh caused contraction greater than 1.5 g/cm at a mean dose of 3.0 X 10(-10) mol/kg for BG dogs compared with 5.1 X 10(-9) mol/kg for mongrel controls (P less than 0.03, Mann-Whitney rank-sum test). In contrast to the muscarinic response, the contractile response elicited by intravenous norepinephrine after beta-adrenergic blockade was similar in trachea and bronchus for both mongrel and BG dogs. Our data confirm previous in vitro demonstration of tracheal hyporesponsiveness in BG dogs and demonstrate that the contraction resulting from efferent parasympathetic stimulation is less in the BG than mongrel dogs. However, postsynaptic muscarinic responsiveness of BG BSM is substantially increased. We conclude that a component of airway responsiveness in BG dogs depends directly on contractile forces generated postsynaptically that are nongeometry dependent, postjunctional, and agonist specific.


1987 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 514-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Gunst ◽  
J. Q. Stropp ◽  
N. A. Flavahan

Concentration-response curves for norepinephrine, acetylcholine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine were obtained in vitro alone and after precontraction with histamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, or acetylcholine. Responses obtained to each agonist after precontraction were greater than responses to the agonist alone after subtraction of the force due to the precontracting stimulus. Augmentation of responses after precontraction was the greatest for norepinephrine, less for 5-hydroxytryptamine, and least for acetylcholine. Verapamil had no significant effect on the augmentation of responses to either 5-hydroxytryptamine or acetylcholine caused by precontraction. When the efficacy of acetylcholine was decreased by receptor alkylation with phenoxybenzamine, the augmentation of responses to acetylcholine caused by precontraction with histamine was significantly enhanced. Differences in the magnitude of the effect of precontraction on responses to different agonists may reflect differences in their efficiency of stimulus-response coupling in canine tracheal smooth muscle, or they may result from an increased expression of distinct receptors or receptor-mediated effects uncovered by the facilitory stimuli.


1983 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 215-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Hendrix ◽  
N. M. Munoz ◽  
A. R. Leff

We studied the isometric response of bronchial smooth muscle in a single third-order bronchus of 24 dogs in situ. Length-tension studies were performed in six dogs by repeated injection of 10(-5) mol acetylcholine (ACh) into the right bronchoesophageal artery, and the resting tension (30.6 +/- 6.9 g/cm) and length (0.76 +/- 0.14 cm) permitting maximal contraction were determined. In eight other dogs, dose-related bronchial contraction was obtained with 10(-10) to 10(-5) mol intra-arterial (ia) ACh. Supramaximal electrical stimulation of the right cervical vagus nerve and bronchial parasympathetic ganglion stimulation with ia 1–1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium (DMPP) also caused bronchial contraction. The maximal response to ia ACh (28.5 +/- 1.7 g/cm), supramaximal electrical stimulation (15.2 +/- 1.1 g/cm), and ia DMPP (10.5 +/- 3.0 g/cm) was blocked by an ia dose of atropine (1–5 micrograms/kg) that did not alter the sympathetic relaxation response in the trachea. In four dogs, the bronchial response to sympathetic activation was studied by intravenous (iv) bolus injection of DMPP after cholinergic blockade with atropine. DMPP (25 micrograms/kg iv) caused 9.5 +/- 2.2 g/cm bronchial relaxation, which was blocked completely by 2–4 mg/kg iv propranolol. In six other dogs, hypoxia induced by ventilation with pure nitrogen caused bronchial contraction, which was blocked by vagotomy, atropine, and hexamethonium. We report a sensitive method for selective measurement of bronchial smooth muscle response in a single resistance bronchus. This preparation preserves regional innervation and circulation and permits selective physiological stimulation in situ.


1989 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 638-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Murphy ◽  
N. M. Munoz ◽  
J. Moss ◽  
J. S. Blake ◽  
M. M. Mack ◽  
...  

We studied the secretory correlates of tracheal smooth muscle contraction caused by platelet-activating factor (PAF) in nine mongrel dogs in vivo. In five dogs, dose-response curves were generated by rapid intra-arterial injection of 10(-10) to 10(-6) mol PAF into the isolated tracheal circulation; tracheal contractile response was measured isometrically in situ. To examine the mechanism by which PAF elicits contraction of canine trachealis, concentrations of serotonin (5-HT) and histamine were assayed in the venous effluent as the arteriovenous difference (AVd) in mediator concentration across the airway for each level of contraction. PAF caused dose-related active tracheal tension to a maximum of 37.2 +/- 5.4 g/cm (10(-6) mol PAF). The AVd in 5-HT increased linearly from 0.20 +/- 0.05 (10(-9) mol PAF) to 3.5 +/- 0.3 ng/ml (10(-6) mol PAF) (P less than 0.005). In contrast, the AVd in histamine was insignificant and did not change with increasing doses of PAF. A positive correlation was obtained between the AVd in 5-HT and active tracheal tension (r = 0.92, P less than 0.001); there was no correlation between AVd in histamine and active tension (r = -0.16). PAF-induced parasympathetic activation was not mediated by 5-HT; contraction elicited by exogenous 5-HT was not affected by muscarinic blockade. We conclude that nonparasympathetically mediated contraction elicited acutely by PAF in dogs results at least in part from secondary release of serotonin and is not mediated by histamine.


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 2597-2603 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Bethel ◽  
C. L. McClure

To determine whether cyclooxygenase inhibitors alter parasympathetic control of airway smooth muscle in situ, we pretreated anesthetized dogs with intravenous indomethacin, meclofenamate, or normal saline and measured the isometric contraction of tracheal muscle in response to electrical stimulation of the vagus nerves. Indomethacin and meclofenamate increase the response of airway smooth muscle to parasympathetic stimulation. In subsequent experiments to determine the site of action of cyclooxygenase inhibitors, we found that indomethacin does not alter the response of tracheal muscle to intra-arterial acetylcholine (a muscarinic agonist) but does augment the response to intra-arterial dimethylpiperaziniumiodide (a nicotinic agonist). Moreover, the response to parasympathetic stimulation after pretreatment with a combination of indomethacin and BW755C (a combined cyclooxygenase-lipoxygenase inhibitor) does not differ significantly from the response after indomethacin or meclofenamate alone. We conclude that cyclooxygenase inhibitors increase the sensitivity of the contractile response of tracheal smooth muscle to parasympathetic stimulation, that they exert their effect on the postganglionic parasympathetic neuron, and that their effect is prejunctional. The effect appears secondary to a decrease in cyclooxygenase products rather than to an increase in lipoxygenase products. These findings suggest that endogenous cyclooxygenase products may modulate parasympathetic control of airway smooth muscle in vivo. They may relate to the mechanisms that underlie airway hyperresponsiveness, by which mediators of inflammation modulate airway responsiveness and by which nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs induce severe bronchoconstrictor responses in some persons who have asthma.


1989 ◽  
Vol 256 (1) ◽  
pp. G39-G43 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. D. Djokic ◽  
K. Sekizawa ◽  
D. B. Borson ◽  
J. A. Nadel

To determine the role of endogenous neutral endopeptidase (NEP), also called enkephalinase (EC 3.4.24.11), in regulating tachykinin-induced contraction of gut smooth muscle, we studied the effects of NEP inhibitors on the contractile responses to substance P (SP) in isolated longitudinal strips of ileum or duodenum in rats and ferrets. Leucine-thiorphan and phosphoramidon shifted the concentration-response curves of SP to lower concentrations in all tissues studied, but the sensitivity to SP was greater and the effect of leucine-thiorphan was less in the ferret, a finding that correlated with the observation that the ferret ileum contained substantially less NEP activity than rat ileum. Captopril, bestatin, MGTA, leupeptin, and physostigmine did not alter contractile responses to SP, suggesting that kininase II, aminopeptidases, carboxypeptidase N, serine proteinases, and acetylcholinesterase do not modulate the SP-induced effects. These studies suggest that, in the ileum and duodenum, NEP modulates the actions of SP and, furthermore, that the sensitivity of tissues may be determined, at least in part, by the amount of enzymatically active NEP present.


1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Murphy ◽  
R. W. Mitchell ◽  
J. S. Blake ◽  
M. M. Mack ◽  
E. A. Kelly ◽  
...  

We studied the effect of maturation on contractile properties of tracheal smooth muscle from seventeen 2-wk-old swine (2ws) and fifteen 10-wk-old swine (10ws) in situ and in vitro. The response to parasympathetic stimulation was studied in situ in isometrically fixed segments. Contraction was elicited at lower frequencies [half-maximal response to electrical stimulation (ES50) = 6.7 +/- 0.05 Hz] in 2ws than in 10ws (ES50 = 9.1 +/- 0.4 Hz; P less than 0.01). Despite substantial differences in morphometrically normalized cross-sectional area in 2ws (0.012 +/- 0.003 cm2) and 10ws (0.028 +/- 0.001 cm2; P less than 0.01), maximal active tension elicited by parasympathetic stimulation was similar (12.4 +/- 3.2 g/cm in 2ws vs. 13.3 +/- 2.3 g/cm in 10ws; P = NS). In separate in vitro studies in 25 tracheal smooth muscle strips from 10 swine, concentration-response curves generated with potassium-substituted Krebs solution (KCl) were similar in 2ws and 10ws. In 58 other strips (10 swine), maximal active force elicited with acetylcholine (ACh) in 2ws was significantly greater than for 10ws (P less than 0.001). Removal of the epithelium had no effect. However, cholinesterase inhibition with 10(-7) M physostigmine augmented the response to ACh in 10ws (P less than 0.02) but not 2ws. We demonstrate increased force generation and sensitivity to vagal stimulation in 2ws vs. 10ws, which corresponds to increased reactivity to ACh in vitro. The relative hyperresponsiveness in 2ws is specific for cholinergic response and is attenuated at least in part by maturation of the activity of acetylcholinesterase enzyme.


1994 ◽  
Vol 266 (3) ◽  
pp. L232-L237
Author(s):  
K. S. Lindeman ◽  
L. B. Fernandes ◽  
T. L. Croxton ◽  
C. A. Hirshman

To elucidate the mechanism of hypoxic relaxation of airway smooth muscle in vitro, we investigated the role of adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels in this response. Second- and third-order porcine bronchial rings were suspended in 10-ml organ baths containing Krebs-Henseleit solution. To demonstrate the presence of KATP channels in this tissue, bronchial rings were contracted with carbachol (1 microM) in the presence of glibenclamide (100 microM), a KATP channel blocker, or the vehicle dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (0.1 ml), and dose-response curves to levcromakalim (a KATP channel opener) or isoproterenol were constructed. In separate experiments, either glibenclamide or DMSO was added to the chamber and rings were contracted with carbachol (1 microM) in the presence of 95% O2-5% CO2. At the plateau, airways were relaxed with either isoproterenol (0.1 or 0.3 microM) or hypoxia (50, 28, or 0% O2, with constant 5% CO2). Glibenclamide, when compared with DMSO, shifted the dose-response curve to levcromakalim, but not to isoproterenol. Glibenclamide attenuated hypoxic relaxation in rings exposed to 50% O2 (from 35 +/- 4% to 23 +/- 3%, n = 6, P < 0.001) and increased the time to 63% relaxation in rings exposed to 50% O2 or to 28% O2. Responses in rings exposed to 0% O2 or to isoproterenol (0.1 or 0.3 microM) were not significantly altered. The ability of glibenclamide to attenuate the maximum response to 50% O2 and to increase the time to 63% relaxation during exposure to 50 or 28% O2 suggests that one component of hypoxic bronchodilation during moderate degrees of hypoxia is opening of KATP channels.


1977 ◽  
Vol 232 (1) ◽  
pp. H59-H66
Author(s):  
V. S. Krishnamurty ◽  
H. R. Adams ◽  
T. C. Smitherman ◽  
G. H. Templeton ◽  
J. T. Willerson

The influence of hyperosmotic mannitol on vascular smooth muscle contractile responses was examined in isolated arterial preparations. Vasoconstrictor effects of norepinephrine (NE) and potassium chloride (K+) in the perfused central artery of the rabbit's ear and in perfused mesenteric arteries of cats were significantly inhibited by infusion with Krebs bicarbonate solution made hyperosmotic with mannitol (50–200 mosM increase). Similarly, the magnitude and duration of vasoconstrictor responses to transmural stimulation of the central ear artery of the rabbit were decreased by hyperosmotic mannitol (50 mosM). Mannitol (50 mosM) produced a decrease in perfusion pressure when perfusion pressure was maintained at an increased level by K+ (60 mM). Mannitol-induced vasodilatation was not affected by ethacrynic acid (1.5 X 10(-5) M), beta adrenergic blockade or by the development of tachyphylaxis to the vasodilator effects of nitroglycerin. The concentration of cyclic adenosine-monophosphate was not changed by mannitol. Isotonic mannitol also inhibited NE-induced contractile responses. These data indicate that hyperosmotic mannitol produces vasodilatation in isolated arterial smooth muscle by a mechanism(s) that appears dissimilar from that of several other vasodilator substances and suggest that hypertonicity may not be the only factor involved in the vasodilator effect of mannitol.


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