Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), common in aging males, is often treated with ␣ 1 -adrenoceptor antagonists. To minimize hypotensive and other side effects, compounds with selective antagonist activity at ␣ 1A -and ␣ 1D -(compared with ␣ 1B -) adrenoceptors were evaluated that would block lower urinary tract ␣ 1 -adrenoceptors in preference to cardiovascular ␣ 1B -adrenoceptors. 9bR)-cis-9-methoxy-1,2,3,3a,4,9b-hexahydroABT-980) was tested in radioligand binding assays, isolated tissue bioassays, intraurethral pressure (IUP) tests in isoflurane-anesthetized dogs, and blood pressure analyses in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Fiduxosin had higher affinity for cloned human ␣ 1a -(0.16 nM) and ␣ 1d -adrenoceptors (0.92 nM) in radioligand binding studies compared with ␣ 1b -adrenoceptors (25 nM) or in isolated tissue bioassays [pA 2 values of 8.5-9.6 for ␣ 1A -receptors in rat vas deferens or canine prostate strips, 8.9 at ␣ 1D -adrenoceptors (rat aorta), compared with 7.1 at ␣ 1B -adrenoceptors (rat spleen)]. Furthermore, the compound antagonized putative ␣ 1L -adrenoceptors in the rabbit urethra (pA 2 value of 7.58). Fiduxosin blocked epinephrineinduced increases in canine IUP (pseudo-pA 2 value of 8.12), eliciting only transient decreases in mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) in SHR. The area under the curve (AUC 0360 min) for the hypotensive response was dose related with a log index value for fiduxosin of 5.23, indicating a selectivity of 770-fold comparing IUP to MAP effects. Preferential antagonism of ␣ 1A -and ␣ 1D -versus ␣ 1B -adrenoceptors in vitro, blockade of putative ␣ 1L -sites in vitro, and selective effects on lower urinary tract function versus blood pressure in vivo by fiduxosin suggest the potential utility of this compound for the treatment of BPH.Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a change in the size, composition, and function of the prostate gland, leads to obstruction of the bladder and urethra in middle-aged and elderly males. The enlarged prostate is composed of glandular epithelium and a large stromal component containing mostly smooth muscle (Shapiro and Lepor, 1991). Although the term BPH might suggest that symptoms arise exclusively from increased organ size causing mechanical obstruction of urine flow, no correlation between prostate size and symptom severity has been shown (Shapiro and Lepor, 1995). Rather, an important "dynamic" component to BPH results from alterations in sympathetic control of prostatic smooth muscle tone, mediated primarily through ␣ 1 -adrenoceptor mecha- ; DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide; PE, phenylephrine; IUP, intraurethral pressure; EPI, epinephrine; SHR, spontaneously hypertensive rats; MAP, mean arterial blood pressure; AUC, area under the curve; pED 50 , negative logarithm of the molar dose of compound required to elicit a reduction in blood pressure for 60 min to a point midway between hypertensive and normotensive; ANOVA, analysis of variance; K i , inhibition constant as a measure of drug affinity for a receptor, equivalent to the concentra...