Noncholinergic vasodilator innervation in the feet of ducks

Vasomotor responses to nerve stimulation were studied in the feet of Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and domestic chickens (Gallus domesticus). The birds were killed and the feet isolated and perfused with a Krebs solution. Electrical stimulation of pedal nerves gave vasoconstrictor responses that were abolished by injecting guanethidine and by treating birds with reserpine. After guanethidine or reserpine, nerve stimulation resulted only in vasodilatation, which was unaffected by hexamethonium. Vasodilator responses to nerve stimulation were not blocked by hyoscine or atropine, which blocked responses to acetylcholine, nor by metiamide, which blocked vasodilatation in response to histamine. Responses to nerve stimulation were blocked by tetrodotoxin. Isoprenaline produced vasoconstriction that was blocked by phentolamine and also weak vasodilator responses that were antagonized by propranolol. It is concluded that the vasoconstrictor innervation is adrenergic. The identy of the vasodilator neurotransmitter is unknown; it is apparently not acetylcholine, a catecholamine, or histamine.