ATROPINE‐RESISTANT EFFECTS OF THE MUSCARINIC AGONISTS McN‐A‐343 AND AHR 602 ON CARDIAC PERFORMANCE AND THE RELEASE OF NORADRENALINE FROM SYMPATHETIC NERVES OF THE PERFUSED RABBIT HEART

Abstract

1 The effects of 4-(m-chlorophenylcarbamoyloxy)-2-butynyltrimethylammonium chloride (McN-A-343) and N-benzyl-3-pyrrolidyl acetate methobromide (AHR 602) on cardiac performance and noradrenaline release from terminal sympathetic fibres were measured in isolated perfused hearts of rabbits. 2 In the presence of sufficient atropine to block muscarinic receptors, high concentrations of McN-A-343 and AHR 602 caused no cardiac stimulation and there was no increase in the resting output of noradrenaline into the perfusates. 3 McN-A-343 and AHR 602 increased both the mechanical responses and the transmitter overflow evoked by electrical stimulation of the sympathetic nerves (SNS) but inhibited both parameters during perfusion with 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium (DMPP). The effects were atropine-resistant and qualitatively similar to those seen with cocaine. Hexamethonium inhibited DMPP, but affected neither SNS per se nor the facilitatory effects of McN-A-343 and AHR 602 on SNS. 4 McN-A-343, cocaine and desipramine (but not AHR 602 or hexamethonium) blocked the net cardiac noradrenaline uptake and increased the positive chronotropic effect of noradrenaline. 5 Prior perfusion with concentrations of cocaine and desipramine sufficient to block uptake reduced or abolished the facilitatory effects of both McN-A-343 and AHR 602 on SNS. 6 Cocaine, McN-A-343 and AHR 602 displayed local anaesthetic properties on the guinea-pig wheal and frog nerve plexus tests, and their relative potencies in this respect were similar to those for inhibition of DMPP-evoked transmitter overflow. Hexamethonium did not produce local anaesthesia. 7 The results indicate that the facilitated release of noradrenaline after SNS and the inhibition of release after DMPP produced by McN-A-343 and AHR 602 are the result of their combined local anaesthetic action and inhibition of amine uptake.