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In vitro study of the inhibitory effects of dopamine on the rat gastric fundus

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Summary

The influence of dopamine was studied on strips of the rat stomach fundus, contracted either by electrical stimulation (1 Hz) or by methacholine.

Dopamine (3 · 10−5 M), like noradrenaline (3 · 10−7 M), inhibited the electrically induced contraction more than the methacholine-induced contraction. The inhibition by dopamine of the response to electrical stimulation was partially antagonized by phentolamine but less so by propranolol; the opposite was true for the inhibition by dopamine of the methacholine-induced contraction. Domperidone and four other dopamine antagonists slightly changed the inhibitory effect of dopamine, but had a similar influence on the inhibition caused by noradrenaline.

The presence of cocaine as well as reserpine pretreatment reduced markedly the inhibitory effect of dopamine on the response to electrical stimulation. To further characterize the α-receptors on the cholinergic neurons, experiments were performed in the presence of cocaine, hydrocortisone and propranolol. Dopamine, noradrenaline, clonidine and phenylephrine concentration-dependently inhibited the contraction induced by electrical stimulation, clonidine being more potent than phenylephrine. However, the inhibitory effect of dopamine on the response to transmural stimulation was equally blocked by rauwolscine and by prazosin, as were the inhibitions caused by noradrenaline and clonidine.

Our findings indicate that the inhibitory effect of dopamine in the rat stomach fundus can be explained by interaction with prejunctional β-receptors on the smooth muscle cells and prejunctional α-receptors on the intramural cholinergic neurons. No arguments for the existence of specific dopamine receptors were found. The inhibition by dopamine is largely indirect, through uptake in sympathetic nerve endings and liberation of endogenous noradrenaline. The results obtained with α-agonists and-antagonists suggest that the α-receptors on the intramural cholinergic neurons combine the characteristics of both subtypes of α-receptors, or that the receptor population consists of a mixture of α1-and α2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heymans Institute of Pharmacology, University of Gent Medical School, De Pintelaan 185, B-9000, Gent, Belgium

    R. A. Lefebvre, J. P. Blancquaert, J. L. Willems & M. G. Bogaert

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  1. R. A. Lefebvre
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  2. J. P. Blancquaert
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  3. J. L. Willems
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  4. M. G. Bogaert
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Lefebvre, R.A., Blancquaert, J.P., Willems, J.L. et al. In vitro study of the inhibitory effects of dopamine on the rat gastric fundus. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 322, 228–236 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00500770

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00500770

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