The fruit extracts of Citrus aurantium (bitter orange) are traditionally used as weight-loss products and as appetite supressants. An important fruit component is p-synephrine, which is structurally similar to the adrenergic agents. Weight-loss and adrenergic actions are always related to metabolic changes and this work was designed to investigate a possible action of the C. aurantium extract o...

Control of Cerebral Vasospasm by Parenteral Phenoxybenzamine • Cerebral vasospasm has been studied in the basilar artery of the cat. The ability of alpha adrenergic blocking agents to prevent and alleviate spasm produced by the application of blood to the basilar artery has been investigated. Parenteral phenoxybenzamine is effective in preventing spasm under these experimental conditions when g...

INDIRECT EVIDENCE has long supported the idea that catecholamines play an important role in fat metabolism." 2 Direct evidence for this was obtained in 1956, when investigators, Dole3 and Gordon and Cherkes,4 working independently, demonstrated that the intravenous infusion of aqueous epinephrine in humans results in a significant rise in the level of plasma free fatty acids (FFA). This respons...

The effect of timolol, propranolol, epinephrine, and isoproterenol on intraocular pressure (IOP) (measured by tonometry) were compared after topical administration in conscious rabbits. Epinephrine and isoproterenol decreased IOP in normotensive rabbits, whereas propranolol had no effect. Timolol produced only a slight and inconsistent lowering of IOP in normotensive rabbits. All four agents re...

It has been well established that the antihypertensive drugs clonidine and methyldopa lower blood pressure by acting on postsynaptic alpha 2-adrenergic receptors within cardiovascular control centers of the brain. A number of novel agents designed as lipophilic and highly selective alpha 2-adrenergic stimulants have been synthesized and in general the pharmacological features of these agents re...

Selective release of inflammatory materials from leukocyte lysosomes is reduced by compounds which increase cyclic 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels in suspensions of human leukocytes and is augmented by agents which increase cyclic 3',5'-guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) levels in these cell suspensions. Lysosomal enzymes are released in the absence of phagocytosis when cytochalasin B (...

In the course of investigations on the effect of beta-adrenergic receptor blocking agents in experimental porphyria we observed an inhibitory action of DL-propranolol and other membrane active compounds on the induced activity of delta-aminolevulinate synthetase Q-ALAS) (EC 3.2.1.37) both in vivo and in vitro [l-3] . Beta-adrenergic receptor blocking agents compete with catecholamines for activ...

'H](±)Carazolol, " newly available ^-adrenergic receptor antagonist, has been used to characterize /f-adrenergic receptor subtypes present in membrane vesicles derived from canine ventricular myocardium and canine lung. [H](±)Carazolol binding is saturable, of high affinity, and in displaceable by /J-adi-e.nergic agents in accordance with their known pharmacological potencies. The interaction o...

The effects of epidermal growth factor (EGF) on the beta-adrenergic receptor-coupled adenylyl cyclase system were studied in a human salivary cell line (HSY). The beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (10(-5) M) stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity by approximately 2-fold, and the isoproterenol response was increased 1.8-fold after prolonged (48 h) exposure to EGF (5 x 10(-10) M). In contrast, ...