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Acetylcholine-induced currents in acutely dissociated sympathetic neurons from adult hypertensive and normotensive rats have similar properties

  • Original Article
  • Neurophysiology, Muscle and Sensory Organs
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Abstract

Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were used to compare the amplitude and kinetics of acetylcholine-induced currents (I ACh) in acutely isolated superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons from spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, to determine if altered postsynaptic transmitter responsiveness underlies the increased sympathetic nerve activity in SHR rat neurons. Rapidly activating and slowly inactivating inward currents were recorded in response to rapid application of ACh (5 μM to 2 mM). Concentration/response relationships for SCG neurons isolated for SHR and WKY rats had dissociation constants of 161 μM and 169 μM, maximum responses of 26 nS/pF and 24 nS/pF, and Hill coefficients of 1.8 and 1.9, respectively. Activation of the currents was fitted well by a single exponential function with concentration-dependent time constants, whereas inactivation was fitted well by a double exponential function also with concentration-dependent time constants. The time constants of both activation and inactivation for SHR and WKY rats were not significantly different at any concentration tested. The results demonstrate that the postsynaptic effects of ACh are similar between SHR and WKY rat postganglionic neurons and, therefore, probably do not contribute to the observed differences in ganglionic transmission between SHR and WKY rat nerves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Tulane University Medical School, 1430 Tulane Ave., 70112, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Jeffery C. Magee & Geoffrey G. Schofield

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  1. Jeffery C. Magee
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  2. Geoffrey G. Schofield
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Magee, J.C., Schofield, G.G. Acetylcholine-induced currents in acutely dissociated sympathetic neurons from adult hypertensive and normotensive rats have similar properties. Pflügers Arch. 429, 772–780 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00374800

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00374800

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