Search results for "Receptor"
showing 10 items of 6990 documents
Evidence for a respiration-modulated cholinergic action on the activity of medullary respiration-related neurons in the rabbit. An iontophoretic stud…
1989
Effects of the iontophoretically administered cholinergic agonists acetylcholine, bethanechol and DMPP on the activity of medullary respiration-related neurons were examined in urethane-anaesthetized rabbits. Inhibitory effects prevailed over excitatory effects. Analysis of cholinergic effects by cycle-triggered averaging revealed three major types of neuronal responses: (i) constant alterations of spike-density throughout the whole period of activity ("constant effects"), (ii) effects increasing during the progression of the burst of discharge or effects restricted to a particular fraction of the burst ("phasic effects") and (iii) effects which were characterized by an excitation during on…
Effects of dopamine in isolated rat colon strips.
2005
The aim of the present work is to investigate the effects of dopamine on isolated rat colon strips, and whether dopamine receptors are involved in these effects. Experiments on spontaneous motility and under potassium contraction were performed with dopamine and isoprenaline, both in the absence and presence of antagonists (distal colon strips, isotonic recording, Tyrode solution, 31 °C, 1 g of resting tension). At higher concentration (10–4mol/L), dopamine abolished spontaneous motility of the rat colon and this effect was not modified by antagonists. In isolated rat colon strips that were depolarized with potassium, dopamine produced concentration-dependent relaxation, without significant…
Substance P inactivation by transglutaminase in vitro.
1992
Gamma(glutamyl5)spermine derivative of substance P (Spm-SP) was synthesized in vitro in the presence of purified guinea pig liver transglutaminase and Ca2+. The spermine adduct of the neuropeptide was purified by HPLC on a reversed-phase column and characterized by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. The biological activities of Spm-SP were tested by assaying, in comparison with substance P, its ability to induce both the contractions of smooth muscle in vitro and the edema formation in vivo. Spm-SP was shown not to elicit contractile responses in the isolated rat stomach strip and duodenum and not to antagonize the spasmogenic effect evoked by the native neuropeptide. Furthermore, Spm…
Damage-associated molecular pattern activated Toll-like receptor 4 signalling modulates blood pressure in L-NAME-induced hypertension
2013
Aims Recent publications have shed new light on the role of the adaptive and innate immune system in the pathogenesis of hypertension. However, there are limited data whether receptors of the innate immune system may influence blood pressure. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), a pattern recognition receptor, is a key component of the innate immune system, which is activated by exogenous and endogenous ligands. Hypertension is associated with end-organ damage and thus might lead to the release of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which are endogenous activators of TLR4 receptors. The present study aimed to elucidate whether TLR4 signalling is able to modulate vascular contractility in …
Modulatory role of a constitutively active population of α1D-adrenoceptors in conductance arteries
2002
A constitutively active population of α1D-adrenoceptors in iliac and proximal, distal, and small mesenteric rat arteries was studied. The increase in resting tone (IRT) that evidences it was observed only in iliac and proximal mesenteric and was inhibited by prazosin (pIC50 = 9.57), 5-methylurapidil (pIC50 = 7.61), and BMY 7378 (pIC50 = 8.77). Chloroethylchlonidine (100 μmol/l) did not affect IRT, but when added before the other antagonists it blocked their effect. The potency shown by BMY 7378 confirms the α1D-subtype as responsible for IRT. BMY 7378 displayed greater inhibition of adrenergic responses in iliac (pIC50 = 7.57 ± 0.11) and proximal mesenteric arteries (pIC50 = 8.05 ± 0.2) th…
Autonomic nervous control of the urinary bladder
2013
The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in the regulation of the urinary bladder function. Under physiological circumstances, noradrenaline, acting mainly on β(3) -adrenoceptors in the detrusor and on α(1) (A) -adrenoceptors in the bladder outflow tract, promotes urine storage, whereas neuronally released acetylcholine acting mainly on M(3) receptors promotes bladder emptying. Under pathophysiological conditions, however, this system may change in several ways. Firstly, there may be plasticity at the levels of innervation and receptor expression and function. Secondly, non-neuronal acetylcholine synthesis and release from the urothelium may occur during the storage phase, leadi…
The metabolic syndrome in hypertension: European society of hypertension position statement.
2008
The metabolic syndrome considerably increases the risk of cardiovascular and renal events in hypertension. It has been associated with a wide range of classical and new cardiovascular risk factors as well as with early signs of subclinical cardiovascular and renal damage. Obesity and insulin resistance, beside a constellation of independent factors, which include molecules of hepatic, vascular, and immunologic origin with proinflammatory properties, have been implicated in the pathogenesis. The close relationships among the different components of the syndrome and their associated disturbances make it difficult to understand what the underlying causes and consequences are. At each of these …
Early, but not late onset estrogen replacement therapy prevents oxidative stress and metabolic alterations caused by ovariectomy.
2014
Aims: The usefulness of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) in preventing oxidative stress associated with menopause is controversial. We aimed to study if there is a critical time window for effective treatment of the effects of ovariectomy with estrogens at the molecular, metabolic, and cellular level. Results: Our main finding is that early, but not late onset of ERT prevents an ovariectomy-associated increase in mitochondrial hydrogen peroxide levels, oxidative damage to lipids and proteins, and a decrease in glutathione peroxidase and catalase activity in rats. This may be due to a change in the estrogen receptor (ER) expression profile: ovariectomy increases the ER α/β ratio and immedi…
Insulin-like growth factors in chick embryo retina during development.
1996
Evidence exists supporting an important role for insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) during fetal growth. In the present report we performed studies to define whether developing chick retina contains IGFs and whether IGFs play a role in the growth of this tissue. We have shown that both IGF-I and IGF-II are present in chick embryo retina throughout development (7th-18th day). The highest values, when expressed as ng/g of tissue, were found in the youngest retinas studied (7th-9th day) and at 16th-18th day of development. During whole development the content of IGF-II was about two to three times higher than that ascertained for IGF-I. The tissue also contains cell-surface binding for IGFs. H…
Effects of cytokines on synthesis and function of the hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor
1994
In this study we have investigated whether cytokines, critical mediators of the immune response, might have a direct effect on the expression and/or function of the human hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR). Binding and uptake of asialoglycoproteins by the human hepatoma cell line, HepG2, and by freshly isolated rat hepatocytes were inhibited by 50% after 3-6 hours and completely abolished following a 24 hour exposure to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha, interferon (INF) alpha or gamma, or interleukin-2 (IL-2). The loss of ASGPR binding activity mediated by IL-2 was reversible up to 4 hours of exposure and accompanied by the selective phosphorylation of the cell-surface receptor. S…