The effects of ageing on prejunctional 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors in the rat vas deferens

The prejunctional inhibitory effects of a series of 5-HT1 receptor agonists were examined against the isometric contraction of epididymal portions of rat vas deferens evoked by single stimulus pulses in the presence of nifedipine (10 mumol/l). The 5-HT1A ligand flesinoxan produced inhibition of contractions which was not inhibited by cyanopindolol or yohimbine. However, the prejunctional inhibitory concentration response curve for the 5-HT1 agonist 5-carboxamidotryptamine (5-CT) was biphasic in tissues from 1.5 month old animals but monophasic in tissues from 24 months animals. Cyanopindolol (1 mumol/l) antagonised the inhibitory effects of 5-CT in tissues from 1.5 and 3 month animals but not in tissues from 8 or 24 months animals. Inhibitory actions of 5-CT were not prevented by pretreating animals with pertussis toxin (6 micrograms/kg i.v.), a dose which abolished the negative inotropic response to acetylcholine in rat left atria. It is concluded that the nerve terminals of vas deferens from 1.5 month old animals contain both 5-HT1B and other as yet unclassified 5-HT1 receptors, but that this 5-HT1B-mediated response is lost in maturation and ageing.