The effect of chloroethylclonidine on nodrenaline-induced contractions of the rat aorta was studied. Chloroethylclonidine (1.5 × 10-5 M) shifted noradrenaline dose-response curve to the right approximately 5000-fold without depressing the maximum. The response to noradrenaline after chloroethylclonidine was not antagonized by phenoxybenzamine (10-7 M), prazosin (10-7 M), WB 4101 (10-7 M) nor yohimbine (10-5 M) and is therefore not mediated via α1-adrenoceptors. These results would suggest that there is a homogenous population of chloroethylclonidine-sensitive α1-adrenoceptors in the rat aorta and that chloroethylclonidine treatment reveals a non-α-adrenoceptor noradrenaline binding site in this tissue.

The role of protein kinase C (PKC) in mediating contractile responses in the rat vas deferens was studied. Phorbol-12,13-di-acetate (PDA) in the presence of 20 mM K+ elicited a concentration-dependent response with an EC50 of 190 nM. The non-PKC activator 4α-phorbol (2 μM) was unable to elicit contraction in 20 mM K+ buffer. Incubation of rat vas deferens with the PKC inhibitor iso-H7 (30 μM) attenuated the response to norepinephrine (NE) ane neurokinin A, with maximal effects depressed to 42 and 39% of control, respectively. Responses to 60 mM K+ and 2 μM PDA (20 mM K+) was also significantly inhibited by iso-H7. In the presence of 2 μM PDA and 20 mM K+, the NE concentration-effect curve was shifted 3,6-fold to the right of the control curve in a parallel manner. 4α-Phorbol (20 mM K+) at the same concentration did not produce this effect. These results suggest a significant role for PKC in the contractile response of the rat vas deferens.