Evidence that 5-HT2 receptors mediate the pressor effect of 8-OH-DPAT in the spinally pithed rat

The aim of the present experiments was to investigate whether 8-OH-DPAT, a selective 5-HT1A agonist, could induce vasoconstriction in vivo and, if so, the type of receptors functionally involved. Dose-response curves to bolus intravenous doses of 8-OH-DPAT were established in anesthetized spinally pithed rats. The peak increase in the mean arterial pressure-log dose (microgram/kg) relationship was fitted to a sigmoidal logistic equation. In the control group, the dose-response curve was steep. The half maximal dose was 743 micrograms/kg. The maximal response was 43 mmHg. Ketanserin, a potent 5-HT2 and alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist (0.25 mg/kg), essentially abolished the effect of 8-OH-DPAT (maximal rise = 6 mmHg). Ritanserin (0.25 mg/kg) and LY 53857 (100 micrograms/kg), which have relatively weak affinity for alpha 1-adrenoceptors, also markedly reduced the pressor action of 8-OH-DPAT (maximal rise 17 and 9 mmHg). Prazosin, an alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist, slightly reduced the maximal response to 8-OH-DPAT (22% reduction). Adrenalectomy did not affect the pressor response (42 mmHg). This excluded a contribution of an acute release of adrenaline in the blood pressure elevation. (-)Propranolol (5 mg/kg), a beta-blocker with a 5-HT1A antagonistic action, affected the 8-OH-DPAT-induced blood pressure elevation (37% reduction). However, two other beta-blockers with a similar 5-HT1A antagonistic property, (-)pindolol (5 mg/kg) and (+/-)cyanopindolol (10 mg/kg), did not (maximal rise 44 and 39 mmHg). Finally, 8-OH-DPAT dose-dependently increased local vascular resistances, with a regional profile similar to that of 5-HT, with the hindquarter being the most sensitive vascular bed. Ketanserin also prevented the vascular effects of 8-OH-DPAT. Our pharmacological analyses of the vascular action of 8-OH-DPAT in the spinally pithed rat indicated that this drug caused dose-related increases in blood pressure. This effect depended on a rise in peripheral vascular resistance, particularly in the hindquarter and kidney beds. Our data suggest that the 5-HT1A agonistic property of 8-OH-DPAT cannot account for this pressor effect which seems to depend on the activation of the vascular 5-HT2 receptor.