Influence of long-term beta receptor stimulation with prenalterol on intrinsic heart rate in rats

Effects of long-term pretreatment with isoproterenol on bromocriptine-induced tachycardia in conscious rats

It has been shown that bromocriptine-induced tachycardia, which persisted after adrenalectomy, is (i) mediated by central dopamine D2 receptor activation and (ii) reduced by 5-day isoproterenol pretreatment, supporting therefore the hypothesis that this effect is dependent on sympathetic outflow to the heart. This study was conducted to examine whether prolonged pretreatment with isoproterenol could abolish bromocriptine-induced tachycardia in conscious rats. Isoproterenol pretreatment for 15 days caused cardiac hypertrophy without affecting baseline blood pressure and heart rate. In control rats, intravenous bromocriptine (150 µg/kg) induced significant hypotension and tachycardia. Bromocriptine-induced hypotension was unaffected by isoproterenol pretreatment, while tachycardia was reversed to significant bradycardia, an effect that was partly reduced by i.v. domperidone (0.5 mg/kg). Neither cardiac vagal nor sympathetic tone was altered by isoproterenol pretreatment. In isolated perfused heart preparations from isoproterenol-pretreated rats, the isoproterenol-induced maximal increase in left ventricular systolic pressure was significantly reduced, compared with saline-pretreated rats (the EC50 of the isoproterenol-induced increase in left ventricular systolic pressure was enhanced ~22-fold). These results show that 15-day isoproterenol pretreatment not only abolished but reversed bromocriptine-induced tachycardia to bradycardia, an effect that is mainly related to further cardiac beta-adrenoceptor desensitization rather than to impairment of autonomic regulation of the heart. They suggest that, in normal conscious rats, the central tachycardia of bromocriptine appears to predominate and to mask the bradycardia of this agonist at peripheral dopamine D2 receptors.Key words: bromocriptine, blood pressure, heart rate, isoproterenol pretreatment, peripheral dopamine D2 receptors, desensitization.

Influence of long-term prenalterol treatment on the heart rate and the beta-adrenoceptor binding-sites in rat myocardium

The density of beta- adrenoceptors has been determined on membranes prepared from rat myocardium. Long-term administration of prenalterol resulted in an increase in the density of receptors, without any change in affinity. The average heart rate increase induced by intravenous prenalterol administration to denervated rats was, however, similar in the prenalterol pretreated and the control groups. We conclude that long-term treatment with a partial beta1-adrenoceptor agonist lead to an increased beta-adrenoceptor density in the myocardium.