Mechanism of methylxanthine sensitization of norepinephrine responses in a coronaryartery

Beta-adrenergic receptor-mediated relazation to norepinephrine was enhanced by caffeine amd aminophylline in a coronary artery preparation of the beef in vitro.Augmented responses were not obtainable in the presence of known inhibitors of the extraneuronal uptake and metabolism of norepinephrine, estradiol-17beta, and the haloalkylamine GD-131, which themselves potentiate responses. In addition, the effect on the norepinephrine dose-response curve of the combination of a methyixanthine and U-0521,the latter a potent inhibitor of catechol O-methyltransferase, the major enzyme of catecholamine inactivation in vascular tissue, did not differ from that of U-0521 alone.Studies of the extraneuronal accumulation of '3H-labeled norepinephrine revealed that caffeine and aminophylline, along with the known inhibitors, materially reduced theaccumulation of label in coronary tissue. It is concluded that the methylxanthinesenhance beta-adrenergic receptor-mediated responses via a blockade of catecholamine uptake, giving rise to an increased concentration of agonist at receptors, and not by an action linked to cyclic AMP accumulation, consequent to receptor activation.

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				J. Nathanson Caffeine and related methylxanthines: possible naturally occurring pesticides Science, October 12, 1984; 226(4671): 184 - 187. [Abstract] [PDF]