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NORADRENALINE AND MOTOR TRANSMISSION IN THE VAS DEFERENS OF THE MOUSE
Author(s) -
JONES MARGARET E.L.,
SPRIGGS T.L.B.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
british journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.432
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1476-5381
pISSN - 0007-1188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1975.tb07367.x
Subject(s) - vas deferens , medicine , neuroscience , biology , anatomy
1 A comprehensive investigation of the innervation of the vas deferens of the mouse was made using pharmacological, histochemical and electronmicroscopical techniques. 2 Guanethidine inhibited the response of the vas to transmural stimulation and potentiated the response to noradrenaline (NA). Phentolamine abolished responses to NA and to transmural stimulation. 3 After chemical sympathectomy degenerative changes were seen in presumptive noradrenergic axons; histochemical fluorescence due to catecholamines was absent. The vas failed to respond to transmural stimulation, and a 10‐fold increase in sensitivity of the vas to exogenous NA was observed. 4 NA is shown to diffuse slowly through this tissue whose muscle cells are densely packed. This is discussed in relation to the apparent ‘insensitivity’ of the vas to exogenous NA. 5 A cholinergic component was identified histochemically which did not contribute significantly to the motor response of the vas as chemical sympathectomy abolished completely the motor response elicited by transmural stimulation. 6 It is concluded that NA is the motor transmitter for the smooth muscle of the vas deferens of the mouse.