Cotransmission from sympathetic vasoconstrictor neurons: differences in guinea-pig mesenteric artery and vein

Vasoconstrictor responses to electrical field stimulation (EFS, 0.2-32 Hz, 0.1 ms, 12 V, for 1 min) were measured in endothelium-denuded segments of guinea-pig mesenteric vein and compared to responses in mesenteric artery. The distribution of both tyrosine-hydroxylase-like immunoreactivity (TH-LI) and neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactivity (NPY-LI) was also studied using anti-TH and anti-NPY antibodies. The effect of exogenous NPY (10 nM) on EFS (8 Hz, 0.3 ms, 12 V, for 1 min)-evoked overflow of noradrenaline (NA) was also studied using an HPLC technique with electrochemical detection. Veins responded with contractions at lower frequencies of stimulation than arteries. Prazosin (0.1 microM) abolished the EFS-evoked contractions in artery at 0.5-32 Hz and in vein at 0.2-1 Hz of stimulation. However, in vein, the contractile responses to EFS at 2-32 Hz of stimulation were only reduced by prazosin. Phentolamine (1 microM) abolished the responses to 0.5-4 Hz and reduced the responses to 8-32 Hz of EFS in artery. In vein, phentolamine (1 microM) abolished the responses to 0.2-1 Hz and facilitated the contractions elicited by 16-32 Hz. The NPY-receptor antagonist BIBP3226 (1 microM), in combination with phentolamine, abolished contractions in vein. Yohimbine (0.1 microM) abolished the responses to lower frequencies of stimulation in both artery (0.5-2 Hz) and vein (0.2-1 Hz). The responses to greater frequency stimulation were not affected by yohimbine in artery, and were facilitated in vein. Pre-treatment of animals for 24 h with reserpine abolished contractile responses to EFS in artery, whereas in vein, responses to 0.2-2 Hz were abolished while responses to 4-32 Hz were unchanged. Suramin (100 microM) or alpha,beta-methylene ATP (alpha,beta MeATP; 10-100 microM) treatment did not affect the contractile responses to EFS in either artery or vein. Pyridoxal-phosphate-6-azophenyl-2',4'-disulfonic acid tetrasodium (PPADS; 30 microM), even potentiated the responses to 2-16 Hz in vein. However, following resperine-treatment, both PPADS and suramin reduced the nerve-evoked contractions of vein. Either BIBP3226 (1 microM) alone or BIBP3226 in combination with PPADS or suramin abolished the contractile response to EFS in reserpine-treated veins. NPY (100 nM) produced significantly more contraction in vein than in artery (i.e., 93 +/- 2.5 versus 7 +/- 4% of the response to 70 mM KCl, respectively). NPY (10 nM) significantly reduced the NA overflow evoked by EFS at 8 Hz. Flat mount preparations and cryostat sections of both mesenteric artery and vein revealed that TH-LI and NPY-LI were co-localized in a dense network of fibers within the adventitial layer. In conclusion, NA exclusively mediates the contractile response to sympathetic nerve stimulation in guinea-pig mesenteric artery, whereas at least three neurotransmitters [i.e., NA, adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) and NPY] are involved in the neural response of mesenteric vein.