Effects of membrane stabilizers on pancreatic amylase release

Ethanol combined with cocaine inhibits amylase release in guinea pig pancreatic lobules

Concurrent ingestion of alcohol and cocaine is a common occurrence in cocaine-dependent individuals. Cocaethylene is a pharmacologically active metabolite of cocaine that is formed in the liver in the presence of ethanol. The effects of ethanol combined with cocaine on the exocrine pancreas are not known. We studied the effect of ethanol and cocaine, alone or in combination, and cocaethylene on amylase release from isolated lobules of the guinea pig pancreas. Incubation of lobules with ethanol plus cocaine produced a more evident reduction of amylase release than each drug alone. An even larger reduction was observed with cocaethylene. HPLC analysis of incubation medium showed that no cocaethylene was formed in vitro in the presence of ethanol and cocaine. It is concluded that cocaethylene could strongly contribute to inhibition of exocrine pancreatic secretion in individuals who coadminister alcohol with cocaine.

Vanadate stimulates rat pancreatic enzyme secretion through the release of calcium from an intracellular store

Orthovanadate accelerates 45Ca efflux and enzyme secretion from the rat pancreas incubated in either control (2.5 mM Ca) or nominally Ca-free buffers. Secretion induced by vanadate does not appear to be mediated by changes in either adenylate cyclase or sodium pump activity. Instead, vanadate appears to act at an intracellular site to cause the release of calcium from the same pool mobilised by acetylcholine. Vanadate action is not inhibited by DIDS. The effect of pH on vanadate action may be accounted for by changes in the distribution of the vanadates. Vanadyl sulphate inhibits secretion evoked by acetylcholine. This suggests that intracellular reduction of vanadate (+5 oxidation state) to the +4 oxidation state may account for an inhibitory component observed during stimulation with vanadate.

Membrane effects of phenothiazines in yeasts. I. Stimulation of calcium and potassium fluxes

Application of trifluoperazine (10-50 microM) to suspensions of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae induces the following effects. (1) A marked increase in the initial rate of 45Ca2+ influx into the cells, accompanied by an increase in the cellular content of calcium. This stimulation in 45Ca2+ influx (10-20-fold) is observed only in the presence of a metabolic substrate and is completely inhibited by LaCl3. The dose-response curves of the cellular accumulation of 45Ca2+ are of a bell shape, indicating a biphasic response. The concentration of the drug yielding maximal accumulation depends on the density of the cells in the suspensions. The results indicate that the stimulation of 45Ca2+ influx is mediated by an energy-dependent carrier-mediated process and not by the increase in the passive membrane permeability to Ca2+. (2) Efflux of K+ from the cells is induced. Removal of metabolic substrate abolishes the effect at concentrations of up to 35 microM and reduces it at higher concentrations. Addition of high concentrations of cations (K+, Na+, Mg2+) to the medium abolishes the stimulation of both K+ efflux and Ca2+ influx. Chloropromazine, thioridazine and chlorprothixene display similar effects, but at higher concentrations. The results are discussed in terms of two possible alternative mechanisms; (1) calmodulin-independent effects of trifluoperazine on cell membranes, or (2) inhibition of some calmodulin-dependent processes by low concentrations of trifluoperazine.

Inhibition of 45Ca2+ uptake and catecholamine secretion by phenothiazines and pimozide in adrenal medulla cells cultures

The inhibition by several phenothiazine drugs and pimozide of the uptake of 45Ca2+ and secretion of catecholamines by cultured adrenal medulla cells stimulated with nicotine, veratridine, 50 mM K+, ionomycin and Ba2+ was studied. The inhibition of 45Ca2+ uptake, except for ionomycin, closely parallelled the inhibition of catecholamine secretion. The nicotine-and veratridine-stimulated effects were several fold more sensitive to inhibition by the drugs than were those stimulated by 50mM K+, ionomycin and Ba2+; the ionomycin-stimulated effects were least sensitive to inhibition. These studies indicate that the drugs have multiple effects on stimulus-secretion coupling in adrenal medulla cells. It is suggested that inhibition of the veratridine- and nicotine-stimulated events is due to membrane perturbations caused by the drugs, that inhibition of the 50mM K+- and Ba2+-stimulated events is due to alterations in the voltage sensitive membrane Ca2+ channel, and that inhibition of secretion elicited by ionomycin may be due to inhibition of Ca2+-calmodulin reactions or to more profound non specific membrane effects.

On the calcium receptor activating exocytosis: inhibitory effects of calmodulin-interacting drugs on rat mast cells

1. A series of neuroleptic drugs (five phenothiazines, imipramine, and pimozide) and the smooth muscle relaxant W-7, which all inhibit calcium-calmodulin-activated processes inhibited rat mast cell secretion elicited by antigen, by 48/80, and by the calcium ionophore A23187. 2. Neither the phenothiazines nor W-7 reduced 45Ca uptake in response to A23187. The drugs thus exert an inhibitory action distal to the rise in intracellular Ca ions that activates exocytosis. 3. Chlorpromazine sulphoxide, which shares several membrane-perturbing actions of the phenothiazines but is a weak inhibitor of calmodulin, did not inhibit secretion. Moreover, the inhibitory effects of the phenothiazines were not overcome by a 5- or 10-fold increase in the concentration of calcium, which should counter unspecific membrane effects. 4. The inhibitory effects of the various neuroleptic drugs appeared to be related to their ability to inhibit calmodulin because the individual potencies of these compounds on secretion evoked by 48/80 or A23187 correlated significantly with their reported potencies in inhibiting calmodulin-activated processes. (The greater potency and different rank order of these compounds on secretion evoked by antigen suggests an additional inhibitory action, perhaps involving Ca entry.) 5. These results, which parallel those obtained with drugs of this sort in smooth muscle where calmodulin seemingly functions as the Ca receptor activating contraction, strengthen the view that calmodulin, or some calmodulin-like protein, is the Ca receptor activating exocytosis.

Amylase release from dissociated mouse pancreatic acinar cells stimulated by glucagon: effect of membrane stabilizers

1. The effect of membrane stabilizers and cytochalasin-B on amylase secretion, basal and induced by ionophore A23187, CCK-PZ, bethanechol and glucagon, was studied in dissociated mouse pancreatic acinar cells. 2. Cytochalasin-B did not affect basal or secretagogue-stimulated amylase secretion. 3. Membrane stabilizers [thymol (10(-7)-10(-4) M), chlorpromazine (10(-7)-10(-4) M) and propranolol (10(-7)-10(-5) M) did not alter basal release of amylase. At higher concentrations of thymol (10(-3) M), chlorpromazine (10(-3) M) and propranolol (10(-4) M), dissociated acinar cells were lysed as indicated by an increase in release of lactic dehydrogenase (LDH). 4. Ionophore A23187, CCK-PZ (maximal effective concentrations, 0.01 u. ml.-1), bethanechol (maximal effective concentrations, 10(-4) M) and glucagon increased amylase secretion in a dose-dependent fashion. Concentrations of CCK-PZ and bethanechol beyond optimal levels decreased amylase secretion. Concentrations of ionophore A23187 and glucagon when tested beyond 10(-6) M and 10(-4) M respectively increased the release of LDH. In concentrations that were non-toxic, membrane stabilizers blocked the stimulating effect of cholecystokinin-pancreozymin and bethanechol on amylase secretion but did not alter the response to A23187 and glucagon. 5. Unlike bethanechol, glucagon neither increased the uptake of 45Ca nor did it alter the release of 45Ca from cells previously loaded with 45CaCl2. 6. These data provide evidence that stimulus-secretion coupling in dissociated pancreatic acinar cells is basically similar to cells in situ. The effect of glucagon is consistent with the model in which hormone-dependent mobilization of Ca2+ from intra- or extracellular sources is bypassed leading to digestive enzyme secretion.