SUMMARY In conscious instrumented normotensive and two-kidney, one clip Goldblatt hypertensive dogs, we compared the effects of the a-receptor blocking agent, urapidil, on blood pressure, renal vascular resistance, heart rate,'and plasma renin activity with those of prazosin and phentolamine. Urapidil (2 mg/kg) and prazosin (0.25 mg/kg) decreased blood pressure and renal vascular resistance in both groups of animals, and urapidil caused a small increase in renal blood flow. Heart rate, but not plasma renin activity, was increased at the peak of the hypotension. Phentolamine had no significant effect on any of these parameters. All three agents markedly inhibited the renal vasoconstrictor responses to intraarterially administered phenylephrine and norepinephrine, and thus exhibited an (*|-receptor blocking action. Only urapidil significantly antagonized the response to B-HT 933, a selective os-receptor agonist, indicating that it also interacts at a 2 -receptor sites. Since both normotensive and hypertensive animals exhibited similar hypotensive responses after both urapidil and prazosin, the degree of a-receptor blockade achieved did not reveal greater sympathetic tone in renal hypertension. VIDENCE suggests that a,-receptors are concentrated at the adrenergic neuroeffector junction, and therefore deblocking agents are particularly effective in inhibiting sympathetic vascular tone.1 Adrenergic blocking agents such as prazosin act selectively on a,-receptors, inhibiting almost completely the vasoconstrictor action of the a,-agonist phenylephrine.2 Agents such as phentolamine, which block both a,-and a,-receptors, have complex effects since they can inhibit sympathetic vascular tone postjunctionally, but also enhance adrenergic transmitter release through blockade of a,-mediated negative feedback.1 Urapidil, a phenyl piperazine derivative, 4 possesses alpha,-blocking properties and may also stimulate a 2 -receptors in the central nervous system.' Thus, this agent has the potential capacity to inhibit sympathetic vascular tone at central and peripheral sites. The main purpose of the present investigation was to examine the effects of urapidil on blood pressure and renal hemodynamics in conscious instrumented normotensive and two-kidney, one clip Goldblatt hypertensive dogs and to ascertain the renal a-adrenergic receptor upon which it acts.
MethodsTwelve dogs of either sex weighing 16-30 kg were used in this investigation. Throughout the study, dogs were fed puppy chow, which provided 67 mEq of sodium chloride daily. While anesthetized with pentobarbital, the dogs underwent two separate operations for implantation of femoral arterial and venous catheters, and approximately 1-2 weeks later for placement of a Zepeda blood flow probe (4-5 mm in diameter) around the left renal artery and a PE 10 catheter in the artery. Details of this technique have been published elsewhere. 6 The flow probe was located on the artery as close to the aorta as possible, and the catheter inserted retrograde into the artery at the site of...