Beta 2-adrenoceptor-induced hypotension in the ganglion-blocked angiotensin II-supported rat

An in vivo method is described to demonstrate vascular beta 2-adrenoceptor agonist and antagonist activity. Agonist activity was shown by the ability of i.v. injected compounds to reduce blood pressure in ganglion-blocked, phenoxybenzamine-treated, angiotensin II-supported rats. Procaterol was employed to assess the relative beta 2 blocking activity of propranolol IPS 339 and atenolol. Arunlakshana and Schild analysis of the data revealed that all these compounds were competitively beta 2 antagonists, their relative potencies being 100 : 80 : 0.56 respectively.