ALTERED ALPHA-ADRENERGIC RESPONSES OF VAS-DEFERENS TO NORADRENALINE AND TYRAMINE FROM RATS WITH SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM ALLOXAN DIABETES

1. Functional and morphological abnormalities in vas deferens have been reported by both experimental and clinical studies as a cause of genital function abnormalities in diabetic males. 2. In the present study, contractile effects of noradrenaline and tyramine in isolated vas deferens from rats with short- and long-term alloxan diabetes were investigated by comparing with those from control rats. For this purpose, intrinsic activities (alpha(E) value) and apparent affinity constants (pD(2) value) for contractile effects of noradrenaline and tyramine in the isolated rat vas deferens were calculated in normal rats and rats with short- and long-term alloxan diabetes. 3. Apparent affinity constants for contractile effects of noradrenaline in the isolated rat vas deferens were increased depending on both short- and long-term alloxan diabetes. By contrast, apparent affinity constants for contractile effects of tyramine in the isolated rat vas deferens were attenuated due to both short- and long-term alloxan diabetes. Intrinsic activities for both noradrenaline- and tyramine-induced contractions of rat vas deferens, however, were increased due to short-term diabetes and decreased due to long-term diabetes. 4. Experimental findings obtained in this study indicate that vas deferens preparations from rats with short- and long-term alloxan-induced diabetes exhibit altered alpha-adrenergic responsiveness depending on time elapsed. While short-term alloxan diabetes causes enhanced alpha-adrenergic responses in the rat vas deferens, the long-term diabetes decreases the responses in this tissue.