SUMMARY. Although quinidine is known to have antiadrenergic effects in the cardiovascular system, the precise mechanism by which it exerts these effects is not well defined. We asked whether quinidine binds directly to adrenergic receptors. Radioligand-binding assays were used to identify <*i -adrenergic receptors ([ 3 H]prazosin-binding sites) on membranes prepared from rat heart and kidney, a 2 -adrenergic receptor ([ 3 H]yohimbine-binding sites) on human platelets and rat kidney membranes, and /3-adrenergic receptors ([ 125 I]iodocyanopindolol-binding sites) on rat heart and kidney membranes. Although it did not effectively compete for binding to /3-adrenergic receptors, quinidine competed for binding to <*i-and a 2 -adrenergic receptors and yielded equilibrium dissociation constants of 0.3-3 /*M. TWO other antiarrhythmic agents, lidocaine and procainamide, did not compete for binding to a-adrenergic receptors. Further experiments demonstrated that the interactions of quinidine with the cardiac c*i-and platelet a 2 -adrenergic receptors were competitive and reversible. We conclude that that antiadrenergic actions of quinidine can be explained by occupancy and competitive blockade of «i-and a 2 -adrenergic receptors. (Circ Res 55: 376-381, 1984) THE antiarrhythmic drug quinidine appears to act by multiple mechanisms. In addition to its wellknown direct effects on myocardial excitability, conduction velocity, and contractility, quinidine also has indirect effects on the cardiovascular system, including anticholinergic and antiadrenergic actions (c.f. Nelson, 1928;Hiatt, 1950;James and Nadeau, 1967, Schmid et al., 1974;Mirro et al., 1980;Toda et al., 1981, Caldwell et al., 1983. The anticholinergic effects on the heart appear to result from blockade of muscarinic receptors (Mirro et al., 1980), but the mechanism by which quinidine exerts its antiadrenergic actions has not been clearly defined. There are many possibilities, including a nonspecific "local anesthetic* or "membrane-stabilizing" effect, an interaction with receptor-linked ion channels, or a direct blockade at adrenergic receptors. With the availability of radioligand-binding techniques, one can test whether quinidine acts to block adrenergic response by binding to receptors. We report here results of radioligand-binding studies examining the interaction of quinidine and other antiarrhythmic agents with adrenergic receptors in heart, kidney, and platelets.
Methods
Tissue PreparationHeart Left ventricles were excised from adult Sprague-Dawley rats and were homogenized using a Brinkman Polytron at setting 8 for 15 seconds. After filtering through 200 /tm Nitex mesh, the homogenate was centrifuged at 8000 g for 10 minutes. The supernatant extract was discarded, and the pellet was washed once and stored at -70° until used. The final suspension was 0.5-2.0 mg protein/ml. The buffer used for washing membranes, as well as in the binding experiments, consisted of 50 HIM Tris HCI, 8 irtM MgCl 2 , 0.5 mM EGTA at pH 7.5
KidneyRenal membranes were p...