Effect of enflurane on contractile reactivity in isolated canine mesenteric arteries and veins

The effects of enflurane on responses of isolated canine mesenteric arteries and veins to transmural nerve stimulation and to exogenously administered norepinephrine (a mixed alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist), phenylephrine (a selective alpha 1-adrenoceptor agonist), and tyramine were studied. The contractile responses of the arteries and the veins to transmural nerve stimulation and to norepinephrine were attenuated by exposure to enflurane; the responses to phenylephrine were decreased more than those to norepinephrine. When compared with the effect of enflurane on transmural nerve stimulation-induced responses, exposure to enflurane resulted in slight attenuation of the contractile responses caused by tyramine, suggesting that enflurane may inhibit the responses to tyramine by interfering with an interaction between released norepinephrine and postjunctional alpha 1-adrenoceptors rather than with tyramine-induced norepinephrine release. The data are also consistent with the view that enflurane acts on sympathetic nerve endings to inhibit release of norepinephrine associated with electrical stimulation-induced nerve membrane depolarization.