Effects of yohimbine on submaxillary salivation in dogs

1. The effects of yohimbine (0.5 mg kg-1 i.v.) on both resting and parasympathetic and sympathetic stimulation-induced submaxillary salivary responses were investigated in the anaesthetized dog. 2. Salivary secretion was increased significantly for a period of 45 min following an injection of yohimbine. 3. Sectioning of the chorda tympani (but not the cervical sympathetic) nerve abolished the yohimbine-induced increase in resting salivary secretion and potentiated that elicited by electrical stimulation of the chorda tympani nerve. 4. These results show that yohimbine increases submaxillary secretion by inhibition of presynaptic alpha 2-adrenoceptors located on the chorda tympani, which inhibit cholinergic transmission.