[Dilator effects of adenosine on rat pancreatic vessels]

The effect of adenosine (an agonist of the P1 purinoceptors) alone or in presence of a specific blocker of these receptors, theophylline, was studied on the vascular flow of the isolated perfused rat pancreas. Adenosine alone at a low concentration (1.65 microM) induced a rapid increase in vascular flow (+ 17%) which lasted throughout the perfusion of the nucleoside. This effect was suppressed by theophylline (50 microM). Our results show that adenosine provokes a dilator effect on the vessels of the rat pancreas and suggest that this effect is due to an action on purinergic receptors of the P1 type.