Summary: The aim of this study was to test the effect of adenosine and four of its analogues, 5'-(N-ethyl)carbox amidoadenosine (NECA), 2-chloroadenosine (2-CADO), L-phenylisopropyladenosine (L-PIA), and N6-cyclohexyl adenosine (CHA), on prostaglandin (PG) F2u-constricted pig basilar arteries, and from their rank order of potency determine the receptor type involved, The order of po tency for the relaxation of the PGF2u constriction was NECA > adenosine, 2-CADO > L-PIA > CHA, which is Adenosine has been shown to dilate cerebral ar teries both in situ (Berne et aI., 1974) and in vitro (Hardebo and Edvinsson, 1979). It is known that the effects of adenosine are caused by an action on specific receptors found on the cell surface (Schwabe, 1981). The receptors can be subdivided into two classes: the Al (or R) receptor, a high-af finity receptor that is coupled to adenylate cyclase in an inhibitory manner (van Calker et aI., 1979; Londos et aI., 1980); and the A2 (or Ra) receptor, a low-affinity receptor that is coupled to adenylate cyclase in a stimulatory manner (Bruns, 1980). These receptors show a different affinity for adeno sine and its structural analogues, as has been shown by Londos et al. (1978) and Tr ost and Stock (1977) for the Al subtype and by Bruns (1980) for the A2 subtype. Previous work carried out suggests that the receptor involved in the vasodilatation of both peripheral (Kusachi et aI., 1983;Mustafa and Askar, 1985) and cerebral (Edvinsson and Fred holm, 1983)
40in keeping with the A2 receptor subtype, The study also investigated the effects of a known adenosine antagonist, namely, the xanthine derivative 8-phenyltheophylline, which at concentrations having no intrinsic effect (10-8 and 10-7 M) produced a significant shift to the right only for the NECA dose-response curve, Key Words: Adeno sine-Adenosine analogues-8-Phenyltheophylline Pig basilar artery -A2 Receptor.shown that adenosine-induced relaxation of cere bral arteries in a number of species was endothe lium independent; i.e., the action of adenosine on cerebral vessels is not dependent on the endothe lium being intact (Hardebo et aI., 1985).The aim of this study was to identify the re ceptors involved in the dilatation of the pig basilar artery and also to examine the antagonistic proper ties of 8-phenyltheophylline at concentrations that have no intrinsic etfect.
MATERIALS AND METHODSSpecimens of basilar artery were obtained from adult pigs immediately after slaughter and stored in the bathing medium (see below) at 4°C until use. It was found that the responsiveness of the vessels was not affected by the length of time that they were stored at 4°C. The vessels were trimmed to a length of 4 mm and the segments were suspended between two L-shaped metal hooks in a vessel bath containing 20 ml of the bathing medium, which was being continuously gassed with 5% COz in oxygen, in both the stock solution and the bath, to produce a re sulting pH of between 7.35 and 7.45. The temperature of the bathing medium was kept constant at 37°C....