Potent and selective. cap alpha. /sub 2/-adrenoceptor by L-657,743, a new spirocyclic-substituted benzofuroquinolizine

In the rat vas deferens, neuronal deamination of /sup 3/H-(-)noradrenaline (/sup 3/H-NA) to /sup 3/H-dihydroxyphenethylglycol (/sup 3/HDOPEG) cannot be inhibited by pretreatment with a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor. However, in the extraneuronal compartment of the rat heart. However, in the extraneuronal compartment of the rat heart, inhibition of MAO abolishes the formation of /sup 3/HDOPEG. To clarify this discrepancy, the authors determined the rate constant for MAO (/sup k/mao) neuronally (rat vas deferens) and extraneuronally (rat heart). For neuronal /sup k/mao/, vasa deferentia were incubated with /sup 3/HNA for 300 minutes, and the cumulative formation of /sup 3/HDOPEG measured. The delay in time before /sup 3/HDOPEG achieves steady state (/sup tau/system), is inversely proportional to /sup k/mao/. Because /sup tau/system is very short for neuronal MAO, an appreciable delay was only achieved after partial inhibition of MAO with various pargyline concentrations. To relate to the uninhibited enzyme, the percentage inhibition by pargyline was then determined in homogenate preparations. For extraneuronal MAO, a similar procedure was performed in perfused rat hearts. Results show a significantly greater /sup k/mao of neuronal origin, (/sup k/mao = .57 min /sup -/1) which when related to the fractional size of the neuronal compartment suggests amore » very high activity of neuronal MAO.« less