Neuronal efflux of noradrenaline induced by tris or lithium as substitutes for extracellular sodium

Vasa deferentia of either untreated or reserpine (R) and/or pargyline (P) pretreated rats were incubated with 3H-noradrenaline and then washed with amine- and Ca2+-free solution until (after 100 min) the efflux of radioactivity largely originated from adrenergic nerve endings; COMT was inhibited by U-0521 (U). After 110 min of wash out, the sodium chloride in the wash-out solution was replaced by an equimolar concentration of either Tris-HCl or LiCl. This caused a desipramine-sensitive (i.e., carrier-mediated) efflux of tritiated noradrenaline. The initial increase of the "low Na+"-induced efflux dependent on the experimental conditions: it was most pronounced when the axoplasmic concentration of noradrenaline was high (RPU) and relatively small when MAO and vesicular storage were intact (U). The effects of Li+ and Tris+ differed with regard to the time course of the efflux of tritium: under all three experimental conditions (RPU, PU, U), Tris+ caused the rate of efflux of tritium to increase gradually within the 30 min period of observation, while Li+ either had a "peak-effect" (RPU, PU) or a "plateau-effect" (U). Under "U-conditions" Tris+ caused a slowly increasing, pronounced increase with time of the efflux of both, 3H-noradrenaline and 3H-DOPEG; whereas Li+ caused only a small and sustained increase of the efflux of 3H-noradrenaline and a decrease in the efflux of 3H-DOPEG.