(+/-)-Pindolol acts as a partial agonist at atypical beta-adrenoceptors in the guinea pig duodenum

Partial agonistic activity of labetalol, the arylethanolamine, on beta 3-adrenoceptors in the guinea-pig gastric fundus

1. The agonistic and antagonistic effects of labetalol, the alpha1- and beta-adrenoceptor antagonist, were studied on beta3-adrenoceptors in the guinea-pig gastric fundus. 2. Labetalol caused a concentration-dependent relaxation with a pD2 value of 5.58 +/- 0.09 and an intrinsic activity of 0.64 +/- 0.06, which was not affected by pretreatment with both the selective beta1-adrenoceptor antagonist, (+/-)-atenolol (100 microM), and the selective beta2-adrenoceptor antagonist, (+/-)-butoxamine (100 microM). 3. However, the non-selective beta1-, beta2- and beta3-adrenoceptor antagonist, (+/-)-bupranolol (3-30 microM), shifted the concentration-response curve of labetalol to the right (pA2 value=5.97 +/- 0.08). 4. In the presence of (+/-)-atenolol (100 microM) and (+/-)-butoxamine (100 microM), relaxations to catecholamines [(-)-isoprenaline, (-)-noradrenaline and (-)-adrenaline], to the selective beta3-adrenoceptor agonist, BRL37344, and to the non-conventional partial beta3-adrenoceptor agonist, (+/-)-CGP12177A, were weakly antagonized by labetalol (10 microM). 5. These results indicate that labetalol, the arylethanolamine, acts as a partial agonist on beta3-adrenoceptors in the guinea-pig gastric fundus.

Structure-activity relationship studies of (+/-)-terbutaline and (+/-)-fenoterol on beta3-adrenoceptors in the guinea pig gastric fundus

(+/-)-Terbutaline and (+/-)-fenoterol are both arylethanolamine analogs that have tertbutyl and aryliso-propyl substituents respectively at the a position on the nitrogen of the ethanolamine side chain. In the present study, we have investigated the structure-activity relationships of (+/-)-terbutaline and (+/-)-fenoterol as beta3-adrenoceptor agonists in the guinea pig gastric fundus. (+/-)-Terbutaline and (+/-)-fenoterol induced concentration-dependent relaxation of the precontracted gastric fundus with pD2 values of 4.45+/-0.10 and 5.90+/-0.09, and intrinsic activities of 1.00+/-0.03 and 0.99+/-0.01 respectively. The combination of the selective beta1-adrenoceptor antagonist (+/-)-atenolol (100 microM), and the selective beta2-adrenoceptor antagonist (+/-)-butoxamine (100 microM), produced a 2 and 6 fold rightward shift of the concentration-response curves for (+/-)-terbutaline and (+/-)-fenoterol respectively, without depressing the maximal responses. The order of potency of these agonists was (pD2 value): (+/-)-fenoterol (5.09+/-0.10) > (+/-)-terbutaline (4.13+/-0.08). In the presence of (+/-)-atenolol and (+/-)-butoxamine, however, the non-selective beta1, beta2- and beta3-adrenoceptor antagonist (+/-)-bupranolol caused a concentration-dependent rightward shift of the concentration-response curves for (+/-)-terbutaline and (+/-)-fenoterol. Schild plot analyses of the effects of (+/-)-bupranolol against these agonists gave pA2 values of 6.21+/-0.07 ((+/-)-terbutaline) and 6.37+/-0.06 ((+/-)-fenoterol) respectively, and the slopes of the Schild plot were not significantly different from unity (p>0.05). These results suggest that the relaxant responses to (+/-)-terbutaline and (+/-)-fenoterol are mainly mediated through beta3-adrenoceptors in the guinea pig gastric fundus. The beta3-adrenoceptor agonist potencies of arylethanolamine analogs depend on the size of the end of the alkylamine side chain.