Physiology of the sympathetic nerve ending.

Since the discovery by von Euler (1956) that the substance released from the postganglionic sympathetic nerve was indeed noradrenaline, a vast amount of research has led subsequently to an understanding of some of the physiological processes at the sympathetic nerve ending. The processes whereby the neurotransmitter is synthesized, stored and released, activates specific adrenoceptors located postjunctionally and prejunctionally before its action is terminated by the inactivating mechanisms, have been covered extensively in separate monographs and also compiled in an issue of the British Medical Bulletin, "Catecholamines" (volume 29, 1973). In the past decade, attention has focused on aspects of prejunctional receptor modulation of transmitter release associated particularly with the cardiovascular and the central nervous systems. It is therefore more appropriate to deal in this review with some of these more recent developments. Where possible, we have attempted to provide the reader with a framework for further reading; this review is not a complete bibliography of this vast subject, but where possible we have cited other reviews and pertinent papers.