Capacitation and the acrosome reaction of mammalian spermatozoa are essential for fertilization. In vitro results are presented that demonstrate that catecholamines stimulate activation (a whiplash flagellar movement characteristic of capacitated hamster spermatozoa) and the acrosome reaction. Protein-free ultrafiltrates of bovine adrenal cortex and medulla preparations stimulated motility, act...

OBJECTIVE To define the effects of beta(2) adrenergic receptor stimulation on ventricular repolarisation in vivo. DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING Tertiary referral centre. PATIENTS 85 patients with coronary artery disease and 22 normal controls. INTERVENTIONS Intravenous and intracoronary salbutamol (a beta(2) adrenergic receptor selective agonist; 10-30 microg/min and 1-10 microg/min...

Uterine contractile activity in nonpregnant conscious dogs was investigated based on 2- to 6-mo-long continuous recording by means of a chronically implanted force transducer. We found that nonpregnant uterine contractile activity could be classified into six major patterns: sporadic contractions, weak and strong tonic contractions, weak and strong phasic contractions, and phasic contraction bu...

For many years, clonidine, an α2-adrenergic receptor (α2-AR) agonist, has been widely used as an analgesic adjuvant in perioperative conditions and pain therapy. Dexmedetomidine (DMET) is currently the most potent α2-AR agonist available and was first approved as a sedative agent for use in the intensive care unit. However, DMET has recently been investigated for its analgesic effects and has t...

Psoriasis is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory disorder resulting by the interplay of genetics, immune system and environment. It characterized hyperproliferation epithelial cells, generating red, itchy psoriatic plaques which have no cure but great negative impact in patients’ life. Although corticosteroids or vitamin D analogs might help recovery to some extent, there yet total for diseas...

Conditions have been developed for desensitizing the P-adrenergic receptor-coupled adenylate cyclase of turkey erythrocytes in a cell-free system. Desensitization is observed when cell lysates are incubated with isoproterenol or cAMP analogs for 30 min at 37 “C. Maximally effective concentrations of isoproterenol produce a 41.0 2 1.55% loss of iosproterenol-stimulated and a 15.0 2 2.35% loss o...

GABAergic neurons specifically active during paradoxical sleep (PS) localized in the dorsal paragigantocellular reticular nucleus (DPGi) are known to be responsible for the cessation of activity of the noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus during PS. In the present study, we therefore sought to determine the role of the DPGi in PS onset and maintenance and in the inhibition of the LC nor...

We studied the alterations in myocardial beta-adrenergic receptor-adenylate cyclase activity and muscarinic receptor density in a canine model of left ventricular (LV) failure. LV failure was characterized by a doubling of LV weight/body weight ratio (3.3 +/- 0.1 to 6.9 +/- 0.4 g/kg) and an elevation of LV end-diastolic pressure, 32 +/- 4.5 mmHg, compared with 7.7 +/- 0.6 mmHg in normal dogs. D...