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Hypercarbic respiratory drive is mainly determined by PCO(2) and pH with activity of the intracellular Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE) playing an important role in maintaining intracellular pH and respiratory drive. Because NHE activity varies with genetically different G-protein beta3 subunits (GNB3) (C/T polymorphism at nucleotide position 825) different genotypes might alter respiratory regulation. To test the hypothesis that short-term ventilatory responses vary with different GNB3 healthy volunteers with different genotypes (CC, TC, TT) were exposed to either hyperoxic hypercarbia (n=33) or to isocapnic hypoxia (n=31), respectively. There was no difference between CC, TC, and TT genotypes in hypercarbic and hypoxic respiratory drive when assessed as the ratio of minute ventilation over endexpiratory PCO(2) changes (DeltaV.E/DeltaPETCO(2)), maximal tolerable PETCO(2), and ratio of changes in ventilation over arterial haemoglobin desaturation (DeltaV.E/DeltaSO(2)), respectively. Thus, short-term hypercarbic and hypoxic ventilatory drive do not differ between individuals with genotypes encoding different GNB3. Whilst respiratory control may still be influenced by G-protein aberration, other mechanisms seem to have a more important role in controlling ventilation.

The present study was aimed at the identification of mechanisms following the activation of histamine H3 receptors. Mouse brain cortex slices preincubated with 3H-noradrenaline were superfused and the (H3 receptor-mediated) effect of histamine on the electrically evoked tritium overflow was studied under a variety of conditions. The extent of inhibition produced by histamine was inversely related to the frequency of stimulation used to evoke tritium overflow and to the Ca2+ concentration in the superfusion medium. An activator (levcromakalim) and blocker (glibenclamide) of ATP-dependent K+ channels did not affect the electrically evoked tritium overflow and its inhibition by histamine. A blocker of voltage-sensitive K+ channels, tetraethylammonium (TEA), increased the evoked overflow and attenuated the inhibitory effect of histamine. TEA also reduced the inhibitory effect of noradrenaline and prostaglandin E2 on the evoked overflow. When the facilitatory effect of TEA on the evoked overflow was compensated for by reducing the Ca 2+ concentration in the superfusion medium, TEA did no longer attenuate the effect of histamine. Exposure of the slices to the SH group-alkylating agent N-ethylmaleimide increased the evoked overflow and attenuated the inhibitory effect of histamine; both effects were counteracted by the SH group-protecting agent dithiothreitol, which, by itself, did not affect the evoked overflow and its inhibition by histamine. Mouse brain cortex membranes were used to study the effect of the H3 receptor agonist R-(−)α-methylhistamine on the basal cAMP accumulation and on the accumulation stimulated by forskolin or noradrenaline. R-(−)-α-Methylhistamine did not affect basal cAMP accumulation but, at high concentrations, inhibited the forskolin- and noradrenaline-stimulated cAMP accumulation. S-(+)-α-Methylhistamine (which is 100 times less potent than R-(−)-α-methylhistamine at H3 receptors) was equipotent with the R-(−)-enantiomer in inhibiting the forskolin-stimulated CAMP accumulation. The inhibition by R-(−)-α-methylhistamine was not affected by the H3 receptor antagonist clobenpropit but was counteracted by the α2-adrenoceptor antagonist rauwolscine. The present results suggest that the histamine-induced inhibition of noradrenaline release depends on the availability of extracellular Ca2+ ions for stimulus-release coupling; in particular, a decrease in Ca 2+ influx into the varicosities may contribute to this inhibition. The H3 receptors (which may be coupled to a G protein) do not appear to be coupled to adenylate cyclase, to ATP-dependent K+ channels or to (TEA-sensitive) voltage-regulated K+ channels. α-Methylhistamine, in addition to its main action as a stereoselective H3 receptor agonist, proved to be weakly potent as an α2-adrenoceptor agonist.

We analyzed the facilitatory effect of the 5-HT3 receptor agonist 1-(m-chlorophenyl)-biguanide (mCPBG) on the electrically evoked noradrenaline release in superfused mouse brain tissue. In addition, we determined the affinities of mCPBG and two other 5-HT receptor ligands, namely 2-methyl-5-hydroxytryptamine (2-methyl-5-HT; also a 5-HT3 receptor agonist) and 5-carboxamidotryptamine (5-CT; a 5-HT1 receptor agonist) for alpha 2 binding sites. The latter two 5-HT receptor agonists were included because of the claimed involvement of alpha 2-adrenoceptors in their effects on noradrenaline release. In superfusion experiments on mouse brain cortex slices preincubated with 3H-noradrenaline, tritium overflow evoked by 2-min periods of electrical field stimulation (3 Hz) was facilitated by mCPBG and, in addition, by rauwolscine (alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist) and tetraethylammonium (K+ channel blocker) (which were examined for comparison). The effect of mCPBG was not affected by the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist tropisetron or by desipramine but was abolished by rauwolscine. In slices superfused with medium containing desipramine, the concentration-response curve of unlabelled noradrenaline for its inhibitory effect on the electrically (0.3 Hz) evoked overflow was shifted to the right by mCPBG and rauwolscine (apparent pA2 5.35 and 7.88, respectively). In another series of superfusion experiments, 4 electrical pulses, administered at 100 Hz, were used to evoke tritium overflow. Tritium overflow evoked by this stimulation procedure (under which an endogenous tone of noradrenaline does not develop) was not affected by mCPBG and rauwolscine but still increased by tetraethylammonium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)