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Location of vascular alpha 2‐adrenoceptors in man.
Author(s) -
Murphy MB,
Brown MJ,
Dollery CT
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
british journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.216
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1365-2125
pISSN - 0306-5251
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1984.tb02570.x
Subject(s) - postsynaptic potential , blood pressure , alpha (finance) , medicine , endocrinology , agonist , sympathetic nervous system , adrenergic receptor , alpha 2 adrenergic receptor , chemistry , receptor , surgery , construct validity , patient satisfaction
To determine whether vascular postsynaptic alpha 2‐adrenoceptors are innervated by sympathetic nerves in man, normal volunteers were infused for 90 min with angiotensin II (A II) and the alpha 2‐adrenoceptor agonist alpha‐methylnoradrenaline (MNA) in a double‐blind cross‐over study. Whilst systolic blood pressure returned to baseline within 5 min of terminating the A II infusion it remained elevated 40 min after stopping MNA. The prolongation of the pressor response to MNA, a substrate for neuronal uptake, was probably due to activation of alpha 2‐adrenoceptors by MNA re‐released from contiguous sympathetic nerve endings. The proximity of alpha 2‐adrenoceptors to sympathetic nerve terminals suggests that they could contribute to blood pressure regulation in man.