The β-adrenoceptor site activated by CGP12177 varies in behavior according to the estrous cycle phase and stress

Abstract

The aim of this work was to assess whether stress and estrous cycle phases affected the β-adrenoceptor (β-AR) site activated by CGP12177 in the right atria of rats. The chronotropic response to CGP12177 in the absence or presence of antagonists was determined in atria from rats submitted to one daily foot-shock session for 3 consecutive days. Blood was collected for hormonal assays. The pD2 for CGP12177 in atria from females was lower than in atria from males and was unaltered by stress or the estrous cycle. Propranolol (200 nM) or CGP20712A (3 μM) shifted the concentration–response curves to CGP12177 to the right in control and stressed estrus or control diestrus rats. Atria from stressed diestrus rats were resistant to blockade by propranolol or CGP20712A, indicating that the effect of β-adrenoceptor antagonists on the response to CGP12177 is influenced by estrous cycle phases. The stress-induced increase in serum corticosterone levels was independent of the estrous cycle or gender, but the estradiol/progesterone ratio was affected differently in the two groups of female rats. In the diestrus group, serum estradiol levels decreased after the first foot-shock session and remained low until the day of sacrifice, whereas in the estrus group the serum levels of estradiol did not decrease after stress and peaked on the second day, which corresponded to proestrus. These data do not indicate whether there is a direct or indirect effect of stress hormones and (or) sex steroids on cardiac β-AR sensitivity. However, they do show that the classic and low-affinity binding sites of the β-AR are independently regulated and that the β-AR atypical site affinity for antagonists depends on the estrous cycle.Key words: allosterism, β-adrenoceptor, β-adrenoceptor, receptor active site, steroid hormones, stress.