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This study investigated the influence of diazepam on the binding characteristics of adrenoceptor, muscarinic and benzodiazepine receptors in rat parotid gland membrane using a radioligand binding assay. At a concentration of >10(-6)M, diazepam competed with [(3)H]dihydroalprenolol for β-adrenoceptor, but not [(3)H]prazosin for α-adrenoceptor or [(3)H]quinuclidinyl benzilate for muscarinic receptor. Continuous administration of diazepam at doses of 0.4mg/kg/day, i.p. for 7days in rat significantly decreased pilocarpine (4.0mg/kg, i.p.)-induced parotid salivary flow. Diazepam also produced a significant increase in the dissociation constant (Kd) value for [(3)H]dihydroalprenolol binding, but no change in the maximal binding capacity (Bmax) value, and a decrease in the Kd value for [(3)H]diazepam binding to benzodiazepine receptors, but no change in the Kd or Bmax values for [(3)H]prazosin or [(3)H]quinuclidinyl benzilate binding. These results suggest that continuous administration of diazepam modifies affinity for β-adrenoceptor and benzodiazepine receptor binding sites in parotid gland membrane and that changes in these binding sites may be closely related to diazepam-induced suppression of salivary secretion., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

1. This study examined the effect of diazepam (DZP) on phosphoinositide turnover, which plays an important role in the regulation of salivary secretion, in rat parotid acinar cells. 2. DZP (10(-9) M to 10(-5) M), a potent agonist of both central- and peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors, dose-dependently decreased inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate IP3 production stimulated by carbachol, a muscarinic receptor agonist, in the cells. 3. DZP produced a maximum inhibitory response at a concentration of 10(-5) M, with IP3 production decreased to 63% of maximal levels. The concentration inducing half maximal inhibition of IP3 production was approximately 3.5 x 10 (-8) M. 4. An inhibitory response to DZP was produced by a short-term pretreatment (<3 min) of the cells and prevented by antagonist and competing ligand for the central- and peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors, flumazenil and PK 11195, respectively. 5. DZP showed a non-competitive inhibition of carbachol-stimulated IP3 production. It did not directly inhibit the activities of GTP-binding regulatory proteins and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate-specific phospholipase C (PLC) in the parotid gland membranes, though choline chloride inhibited PLC activity. 6. DZP (10(-5) M) attenuated the increase in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in the cells following stimulation of the muscarinic and alpha(1)-adrenoceptors. 7. These results suggest that in the parotid acinar cells, DZP inhibits muscarinic receptor-stimulated IP3 production through benzodiazepine receptors and that PLC activity which produces IP3 is inhibited by chloride. The decreases in IP3 and [Ca(2+)](i) in the cells may be connected with the suppression of salivary secretion induced by DZP.

m3-Muscarinic cholinergic receptor (m3-AChR) and alpha 1-adrenergic receptor (alpha 1-AR) stimulation of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) hydrolysis (by a PIP2-specific phospholipase C, PLC) in rat parotid gland membranes is mediated via activation of alpha subunits of the Gq/11 family of G-proteins. This study examines m3-AChR and alpha 1-AR stimulation of PIP2 hydrolysis in membranes isolated from parotid glands of old (24 months) and young (3 months) rats (old and young rat membranes). Old rat membranes exhibited reduced stimulation of PIP2 hydrolysis in response to the addition of guanosine-5'-O-(3-thiotrisphosphate) (GTP gamma S) alone or GTP gamma S plus either carbachol (m3-AChR agonist) or epinephrine (alpha 1-AR agonist). This reduction in receptor-stimulated PIP2 hydrolysis was not due to a decrease in PLC activity per se since cholate-solubilized PLC activity was similar in old and young rat membranes. Additionally, these membranes exhibited comparable, immunologically detectable, levels of PLC beta 3, G alpha q/11, and G beta. In the presence of 10 microM AlCl3 and 10 mM NaF, stimulation of PIP2 hydrolysis in both old and young rat membranes was similar. Preincubation of membranes from old rats with GTP gamma S induced a time-dependent increase in the rate of PIP2 hydrolysis and, with 20 min preincubation, the rates of hydrolysis in old and young rat membranes were not statistically different. In aggregate, these data indicate that there is a defect in the activation of G alpha q/11 in parotid gland membranes from old rats.

To obtain more insight into the physiological role of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in rat salivary glands, we measured the concentration of GABA and the activities of its biosynthetic and metabolic enzymes, glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) and GABA transaminase (GABA-T). The GABA concentrations in rat parotid and submandibular glands were 10.0 and 14.3 nmol/g weight, respectively, which were 0.6-0.8% of the levels in the brain (cerebellum and medulla oblongata), whereas glutamic acid (Glu) was abundant in the two glands. These GABA levels in the two glands were significantly decreased by administration of semicarbazide (200 mg/kg, i.p.), a GAD inhibitor, and increased by gabaculine (50 mg/kg, i.p.), a GABA-T inhibitor. The activities of both GAD and GABA-T were also detected in homogenates of the two salivary glands, but they were lower than those in the brain. However, kinetic analysis showed that the values of Michaelis constants for Glu and GABA in both enzyme reactions in these two glands were similar to those in the brain. These results indicate that GABA and its biosynthetic and metabolic enzymes are present in rat salivary glands as well as the brain.

Stimulation of m3-muscarinic cholinergic receptors (m3AChR) in the rat parotid gland increases the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) via activation of the G alpha/11 family of G-proteins (Sawaki et al. (1993) Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 546-550). Herein we report that alpha 1-adrenergic receptor (alpha 1-AR) stimulation of PIP2 hydrolysis is also mediated via alpha subunits of the G q/11 family of G-proteins. The alpha 1-AR agonist, epinephrine, induced a dose-dependent increase (1.5-fold maximum) of exogenously added PIP2 in the presence of guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S), which was inhibited by the alpha 1-AR antagonist, phentolamine, but not by the beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist, propranolol. The epinephrine-stimulated component of PIP2 hydrolysis was significantly inhibited by pretreating the membranes with an antiserum against G alpha q/11. When carbachol and epinephrine were present simultaneously (with GTP gamma S), the increase in PIP2 hydrolysis obtained was not significantly different from the sum of the increases in PIP2 hydrolysis obtained with each agonist alone. PIP2 hydrolysis stimulated in the presence of carbachol and epinephrine was inhibited by alpha 1-AR and m3AChR antagonists, phentolamine and atropine respectively, to the level obtained with each agonist alone. Notably, in the presence of both agonists the inhibition of PIP2 hydrolysis by anti-G alpha q/11 antiserum was not significantly different from the sum of the inhibitions obtained with each agonist alone. These results indicate that m3AChR and alpha 1-AR stimulation of PIP2 hydrolysis in rat parotid gland membranes are independently mediated by the G alpha q/11 family of G-proteins.

Carbachol stimulation of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) hydrolysis by rat parotid gland membranes is dependent on the presence of GTP gamma S and is a result of m3-muscarinic receptor regulation of G-protein coupled, PIP2-specific phospholipase C (PLC). The PLC activity (> 80%) was solubilized with 1% Na-cholate but the solubilized enzyme was not stimulated by GTP gamma S and carbachol. Immunoblotting of rat parotid membranes with polyclonal antiserum, which recognizes alpha-subunits of the Gq/11 family, indicated the presence of two immunoreactive proteins of approximate molecular weights 41 and 42 kDa. Incubation of membranes with the common G alpha q/11 antiserum attenuated the stimulation of PIP2 hydrolysis, induced by GTP gamma S alone and by carbachol, in the presence of GTP gamma S. The antiserum had no effect on PIP2 hydrolysis in unstimulated membranes or in the cholate extract, where it is uncoupled from the G-protein. Antiserum against G alpha i, which is also coupled to the m3-muscarinic receptor in this tissue, had no effect on either basal or stimulated PIP2 hydrolysis. These results demonstrate that in rat parotid gland, activation of PIP2-specific PLC by m3-muscarinic receptor stimulation is mediated via alpha-subunits of the Gq/11 family of G-proteins.