Evidence for existence of postjunctional alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors in cat pulmonary vascular bed

The subtypes of postjunctional alpha-adrenoceptors in the feline pulmonary vascular bed were studied using selective alpha-adrenoceptor agonists and antagonists. Under conditions of controlled pulmonary blood flow and constant left atrial pressure, intralobar injections of the alpha 1-adrenoceptor agonists, phenylephrine and methoxamine, and the alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonists, UK 14,304 and BHT 933, increased lobar arterial pressure in a dose-related manner. Prazosin, an alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist, reduced responses to phenylephrine and methoxamine to a greater extent than responses to UK 14,304 and BHT 933. Yohimbine, an alpha 2-adrenoceptor blocker, decreased responses to UK 14,304 and BHT 933 without altering responses to phenylephrine or methoxamine. The same pattern of blockade was observed in animals pretreated with 6-hydroxydopamine, an agent that destroys the integrity of adrenergic nerve terminals. However, in propranolol-treated animals, prazosin antagonized responses to phenylephrine and methoxamine without altering responses to UK 14,304 or BHT 933, and the selectivity of the blocking effects of yohimbine were preserved. Responses to intralobar injections of norepinephrine were markedly decreased by prazosin, whereas yohimbine had only a small effect. These data suggest the presence of both postjunctional alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors mediating vasoconstriction in the pulmonary vascular bed. These results also indicate that the vasoconstrictor responses to injected norepinephrine in the cat pulmonary vascular bed are due mainly to activation of alpha 1-adrenoceptors.