Open AccessSpinal α1- and α2-Adrenoceptors Mediate Facilitation and Inhibition of Spinal Motor Transmission, Respectively
Author(s) -
Mitsuo Tanabe,
Hideki Ono,
Hideomi Fukuda
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
japanese journal of pharmacology/japanese journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1347-3506
pISSN - 0021-5198
DOI - 10.1254/jjp.54.69
Subject(s) - prazosin , agonist , alpha (finance) , antagonist , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , chemistry , tizanidine , reflex , spinal cord , endocrinology , facilitation , medicine , clonidine , pharmacology , guinea pig , adrenergic receptor , anesthesia , receptor , neuroscience , biology , construct validity , nursing , spasticity , patient satisfaction
The role of descending noradrenergic fibers in the spinal motor systems was investigated using spinal reflexes in acutely spinalized rats. In rats pretreated with the MAO inhibitor clorgyline-HCl (1 mg/kg, i.v.), L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) (5 mg/kg, i.v.), a precursor of dopamine and noradrenaline, markedly potentiated the mono- (MSR) and polysynaptic reflexes (PSR). Selective blockade of alpha 1-adrenoceptors by pretreatment with prazosin-HCl abolished these facilitatory effects on the MSR and the PSR and revealed the inhibitory effect of L-dopa on the PSR. The depression of PSR was antagonized by the alpha 2-antagonist piperoxan. Clonidine-HCl (0.05 mg/kg, i.v.), a so-called alpha 2-agonist, and tizanidine-HCl (0.1 mg/kg, i.v.) decreased the MSR and the PSR in rats pretreated with prazosin. These inhibitions were antagonized by piperoxan. These results suggest that alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors mediate facilitation and attenuation of motor transmission in the rat spinal cord, respectively.