Alpha 1-adrenoceptor subtypes mediating inotropic and electrophysiological effects in mammalian myocardium

Stimulation of alpha 1-adrenoceptors produces a positive inotropic effect in rat and rabbit ventricular myocardium via different mechanisms, the prolongation of action potential duration (APD) exclusively in the former and an increase in myofibrillar Ca2+ sensitivity in large part in the latter. This study was designed to determine whether the two inotropic mechanisms are mediated by different alpha 1-adrenoceptor subtypes. In rat papillary muscles, the positive inotropic effect and APD prolongation induced by phenylephrine (in the presence of propranolol) were inhibited by WB-4101, but not affected by chlorethylclonidine (CEC). WB-4101, but not CEC, blocked the phenylephrine-induced inhibition of the transient outward current (Ito) in rat ventricular cells. On the other hand, WB-4101 and CEC each antagonized the positive inotropic effect of phenylephrine in rabbit papillary muscles. However, the phenylephrine-induced APD prolongation observed in rabbit papillary muscles was blocked only by WB-4101. These results indicate that the WB-4101 sensitive alpha 1-adrenoceptor subtype mediates the positive inotropism that is correlated with the APD prolongation resulting from Ito reduction, whereas the CEC-sensitive subtype mediates the positive inotropism that is probably associated with increased myofibrillar Ca2+ sensitivity. Radioligand binding studies with [3H] prazosin showed a similar ratio of alpha 1A-to alpha 1B-adrenoceptor subtypes in rat and rabbit ventricular myocardium, implying that the different degree of contribution of each action mechanism to the overall inotropic effect in the two species cannot be explained by distribution of the alpha 1-adrenoceptor subtypes.