The possible involvement of the local angiotensin system in ganglionic functions was investigated in the canine cardiac sympathetic ganglia. Positive chronotropic responses to preganglionic stellate stimulation at high frequencies, after intravenous administration of pentolinium plus atropine, were inhibited by the nonpeptide angiotensin AT(1) receptor antagonist forasartan or the angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitor captopril, whereas the rate increases elicited by the postganglionic stellate stimulation and norepinephrine given intravenously failed to be inhibited by these antagonists. The levels of endogenous immunoreactive angiotensin II, as determined by radioimmunoassay in the incubation medium of the stellate and inferior cervical ganglia, were increased after the high-frequency preganglionic stimulation of the isolated ganglia. The increment of the peptide was also antagonized by the pretreatment with captopril but not by a chymase inhibitor, chymostatin. The expression of angiotensinogen mRNA was observed in the stellate ganglion, adrenal, liver, and lung but not in the ovary and spleen. The expression of the mRNA in the stellate and inferior cervical ganglia increased after high-frequency preganglionic stimulation of the in vivo dogs for a period of 1 hour. These results indicate that an intrinsic angiotensin I-converting enzyme-dependent angiotensin system exists in the cardiac sympathetic ganglia, which is activated by high-frequency preganglionic stimulation.

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ABSTRACT-We investigated the ganglionic effects of angiotensin II (Ang II) and the signal transduction involved in the cardiac sympathetic ganglia by the direct administration of agents to the ganglia through the right subclavian artery and monitoring the heart rate as an indicator of the ganglionic function in pithed dogs. Ang II given i.a. caused increases in the heart rate, which was inhibited by the treatment with the AT1-receptor antagonist forasartan, but not by the AT 2-receptor antagonist PD-123319. The stimulation by Ang II, but not by acetylcholine, was inhibited after treatment with an inhibitor of phospholipase C, U-73122; a cellpermeant modulator of the Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptors, 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate; an intracellular calcium and calcium-associated protein kinase inhibitor, HA-1077; calmodulin (CaM) inhibitor, W-7; Ca 2+ /CaMdependent protein kinase II inhibitor, KN-93; a selective protein kinase C inhibitor, calphostin C; and Na + -H + exchange inhibitor, dimethylamiloride. These results suggest that Ang II stimulates the ganglionic transmission at postsynaptic sites via the activation of AT1 receptor coupled to either activation of phospholipase C, phosphoinositide hydrolysis and subsequent increase in intracellular Ca 2+ and activation of protein kinase C and Ca 2+/ CaM kinase II, although this ganglionic stimulation seems to involve, at least in part, the protein kinases-dependent increase of amiloride-sensitive Na + inflow.

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