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Effect of Alpha Adrenergic Drugs on Contractility of the Rabbit Seminal Vesicle^{1, 2,}

The Pennsylvania State University, ³ University Park 16802

Abstract

Two groups of six sexually mature, anesthetized New Zealand White rabbits were used to study the effects of phenoxybenzamine and phenylephrine on seminal vesicle contractions. Intra-seminal vesicle pressure measurements were made with a closed, fluid-filled, silicone sensing device surgically implanted into the lumen of the seminal vesicle and attached to a fluid-filled, catheter-transducer system. The -blocking agent phenoxybenzamine, at a dose of 5.5 mg per kilogram of body weight, reduced (P<.01) the contractile response of the seminal vesicle to repetitive stimulation of the hypogastric nerve. The mean maximum contractile response before drug administration was 63.7±6.7 mm Hg, obtained with a 5,000-msec. train of 80 Hz stimuli. The mean maximum response after drug administration was 11.2±1.8 mm Hg, obtained with a 2,000-msec. stimulus train. The -stimulatory agent phenylephrine, at 100 µg per kilogram of body weight, produced a contraction in the seminal vesicle which reached its maximum strength 25 sec. after injection and lasted between 80 and 129 seconds. The maximum strength of contraction produced by phenylephrine (53.2±3.6 mm Hg) was less (P<.05) than the mean maximum response produced by stimulation of the hypogastric nerve (81.0±2.4 mm Hg). These experiments indicate that alpha adrenergic receptors are present in the rabbit seminal vesicle.

¹ Authorized for publication as Paper No. 3,999 in the journal series of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station, University Park.

² This investigation was supported in part by Biomedical Sciences Support Grant FR-7082-05 from the General Research Support Branch Division of Research Resources, Bureau of Health Professions, Education and Manpower Training, National Institutes of Health, and by Atlantic Breeders Cooperative, Lancaster, Pa. and Northeastern Breeders Association, Tunkhannock, Pa.

³ Dairy Breeding Research Center, Department of Dairy Science.