Abstract

The peripheral adrenergic effects of orphenadrine, an antiparkinsonian drug, have been evaluated in the rat vas deferens to investigate whether these properties are the same as those of other phencyclidine ligands. In the low micromolar range, orphenadrine enhanced electrically-evoked and exogenous noradrenaline contractile responses in the epididymal portion of rat vas deferens. It also induced spontaneous activity that was inhibited by prazosin (1 mu M) but not by atropine (20 nM). It inhibited accumulation of [H-3]noradrenaline in rat vas deferens (IC50 = 14.2+/-2.3 mu M). Orphenadrine competitively inhibited [H-3]nisoxetine binding in rat vas deferens membranes (K-i = 1.05+/-0.20 mu M). It can be concluded that orphenadrine, at low micromolar concentrations, interacts with the noradrenaline reuptake system inhibiting its functionality and thus potentiating the effect of noradrenaline.