Abstract

The vasopressor response to sympathetic stimulation in the pithed rat was characterized both by analyzing the effects of chemical sympathectomy, adrenalectomy and selective antagonists on the vasopressor response and by measurement of changes in plasma concentrations of catecholamines. Stimulation of the spinal sympathetic outflow evoked a biphasic pressor response: an initial transient component was caused mainly by postganglionic sympathetic nerve stimulation (the direct response); a slowly developing secondary component was mediated predominantly by circulating catecholamines released from the adrenal medulla (the adrenal response). Parallel analysis of plasma catecholamines showed that the rise in epinephrine appeared to be closely related to this adrenal component. The pressor response in adrenalectomized rats was selectively blocked by prazosin but not by yohimbine; however, in sympathectomized rats, the pressor response was abolished by prazosin and yohimbine together but not by either drug given alone. These results suggest that the direct, neurogenic component is mediated mainly by alpha-1 adrenoceptors whereas the secondary, adrenally mediated response occurs by activation of both alpha-1 and alpha-2 adrenoceptors. Furthermore, the in vivo regulation of each component of the pressor response was studied in rats harboring pheochromocytoma (PHEO), a tumor causing marked elevations in endogenous catecholamine concentrations. In PHEO rats, the direct pressor response was found to be relatively intact but the adrenal response was blunted. Inasmuch as there was normal rise in plasma epinephrine to electrical stimulation in PHEO rats, the results suggest a differential regulation of neuronally stimulated and blood-borne catecholamine-mediated pressor responses in PHEO rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)