The effects of different doses of p-tyramine injected i.v. and i.p. on salivary flow rates and proteins secreted by the submandibular glands of rats were studied with and without various types of autonomic blockers and two enzyme inhibitors. The salivary flow rates and the amounts of protein secreted progressively increased with increasing doses injected both i.v. and i.p., whereas they were dramatically reduced with all autonomic blockers except the lowest doses of beta-blockers, atropine, and yohimbine. Salivation in response to p-tyramine injected i.v. and i.p. was completely abolished by simultaneous injections of both prazosin and propranolol. The concentration of protein was not dose-dependent and was not reduced by yohimbine and phenoxybenzamine at almost all doses used. However, prazosin significantly increased the protein concentration. Protease activities were dose-dependent but were significantly reduced with alpha-blockers other than yohimbine, and with most beta-blockers. The proteins secreted in response to p-tyramine at all doses injected i.v. and i.p. were of the alpha-type except with the lowest dose injected i.p. However, the alpha-type was completely replaced by the beta-type in the presence of all alpha-blockers except yohimbine, but not with beta-blockers, atropine, or two enzyme inhibitors. Pargyline, a monoamine-oxidase inhibitor, but not disulfiram, a dopamine-beta-hydroxylase inhibitor, affected all parameters except the type of protein. Thus, p-tyramine may activate both the alpha 1- and beta 1-adrenoceptors in the submandibular glands of rats directly or indirectly.

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Fluid and protein secretion by the submandibular glands of 25-day-old rats were examined and compared in response to three cholinergic and four peptidergic sialogogues at various doses. All cholinergic and peptidergic agonists used were potent sialogogues for the submandibular glands of the weanling rats over the wide range of doses used. The cholinergic agonists, bethanechol and methacholine and the peptidergic agonists, substance P, substance PTyr8 and eledoisin-related peptide used intravenously, acted similarly to each other on the submandibular glands of the rats, late in the natural weaning period, but carbachol and physalaemin had slightly different effects. Of the peptidergic agonists, physalaemin was the most potent sialogogue among four tachykinins tested at the low dose. The types of protein secreted by the submandibular glands of the weanling rats in response to all sialogogues used here were typical of the beta-type. These results indicate that all agonists used could mainly stimulate the acinar cells of the submandibular glands of the weanling rats which have already fully developed functionally at this time.

SUMMARYThe secretory effects of 5-hydroxydopamine (5-OHDA) were tested in Nembutal-anaesthetized adult male Sprague-Dawley rats injected i.V. over a wide range of doses, with and without various autonomic antagonists and Ca2+ channel blockers. Polyacrylamide disc gel (15 %) and iso-electric focusing (IEF) electrophoresis by the PhastSystem were used to separate and determine the types of protein in submandibular saliva. Amylase activity of parotid saliva was determined by the blue dextran method. Salivation by the submandibular glands following application of 5-OHDA was completely abolished by both prazosin and propranolol, whereas salivation by the parotid glands was completely abolished by propranolol alone. Following application of 5-OHDA, there was a dose-related increase in flow rates and total output of protein, but not in the protein concentration and amylase activity, from both salivary glands. The effect of 5-OHDA on submandibular saliva was significantly reduced by az-adrenoceptor blockers, but not by ,-adrenoceptor and cholinergic blockers, nor by any Ca2+ channel blocker. The effect of 5-OHDA on the parotid gland was not significantly altered by atropine and phentolamine. However, after pretreatment with reserpine, a 95 % reduction was observed in the salivation from the submandibular gland. This implies that 5-OHDA is mostly acting indirectly via release of noradrenaline. The proteins in submandibular saliva following treatment with 5-OHDA alone or 5-OHDA in combination with #l-adrenoceptor blockers were mainly of the a-type, whereas after treatment with 5-OHDA in combination with a-adrenoceptor blockers they were of the ,-type. The a-type was found in saliva after treatment with each of three Ca2+ channel blockers.