Age-related changes of dopamine receptor protein immunoreactivity in the rat mesenteric vascular tree

Dopamine D1-D5 receptor protein immunoreactivity and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity were investigated on the mesenteric arterial tree by immunohistochemistry. The density of various dopamine receptors and TH immunoreactivity was compared between young (6-month-old), adult (15-month-old) and senescent (24-month-old) Fischer 344 rats by computer-assisted microdensitometry. The dopamine D1-like (D1 and D5) receptors were localized on the tunica media of different sized mesenteric artery branches. The D2-like (D2, D3 and D4) receptors as well as TH immunoreactivity were localized only on the adventitia-media transitional zone of mesenteric arterial tree. Expression of the D1 and D5 receptors was decreased in both adult and senescent rats compared to the young rats, suggesting an age-related decline in these receptors. Of the D2-like receptors, the expression of the D2 receptor was decreased as a function of age, while the D3 receptor was unchanged in the senescent rats compared to the young rats. Expression of the D4 receptor was increased in adult, but was unchanged in the senescent rats compared to young animals. TH immunoreactivity was increased as a function of age. The above data suggest that reduction in the D1, D2 and D5 receptor expression may contribute to the deficiency in the dopamine-mediated vasorelaxation and hence blood flow in the mesenteric vascular tree in aging. The different sensitivity to aging of sympathetic neuroeffector junctions labeled by TH and of dopamine D2-like receptors that are known to be prejunctional, suggests that age-related changes of dopamine receptor expression in the mesenteric vasculature reflect more complicated mechanisms than simple up- or down-regulation phenomena.