Home Life Sciences The effect of coniine on presynaptic nicotinic receptors
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The effect of coniine on presynaptic nicotinic receptors

  • Ulkem Erkent , Alper B. Iskit ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Rustu Onur and Mustafa Ilhan
Published/Copyright: April 23, 2016

Abstract

Toxicity of coniine, an alkaloid of Conium maculatum (poison hemlock), is manifested by characteristic nicotinic clinical signs including excitement, depression, hypermetria, seizures, opisthotonos via postsynaptic nicotinic receptors. There is limited knowledge about the role of presynaptic nicotinic receptors on the pharmacological and toxicological effects of coniine in the literature. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the possible role of presynaptic nicotinic receptors on the pharmacological and toxicological effects of coniine. For this purpose, the rat anococcygeus muscle and guinea-pig atria were used in vitro. Nicotine (100 μM) elicited a biphasic response composed of a relaxation followed by contraction through the activation of nitrergic and noradrenergic nerve terminals in the phenylephrine-contracted rat anococcygeus muscle. Coniine inhibited both the nitrergic and noradrenergic response in the muscle (–logIC50 = 3.79 ± 0.11 and –logIC50 = 4.57 ± 0.12 M, respectively). The effect of coniine on nicotinic receptor-mediated noradrenergic transmission was also evaluated in the guinea-pig atrium (–logIC50 = 4.47 ± 0.12 M) and did not differ from the –logIC50 value obtained in the rat anococcygeus muscle. This study demonstrated that coniine exerts inhibitory effects on nicotinic receptor-mediated nitrergic and noradrenergic transmitter response.

References

1. Bowman WC, Sanghvi IS. Pharmacological actions of hemlock (Conium maculatum) alkaloids. J Pharm Pharmacol 1963;15:1–25.10.1111/j.2042-7158.1963.tb12738.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

2. Sampson SR, Esplin DW, Zablocka B. Effects of coniine on peripheral and central synaptic transmission. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1966;152:313–24.10.1016/S0022-3565(25)27325-6Search in Google Scholar

3. Bowman WC, Rand MJ. Textbook of pharmacology. 2nd ed. Blackwell Scientific Publication: Oxford, London, Edinburgh, Melbourne, 1980.Search in Google Scholar

4. Gillespie JS, Liu XR, Martin W. The effects of L-arginine and NG-monomethyl L-arginine on the response of the rat anococcygeus muscle to NANC nerve stimulation. Br J Pharmacol 1989;98:1080–2.10.1111/j.1476-5381.1989.tb12650.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

5. Dail WG, Carrillo Y, Walton G. Innervation of the anococcygeus muscle of the rat. Cell Tissue Res 1990;259:139–46.10.1007/BF00571438Search in Google Scholar PubMed

6. Docherty JR, Starke K. Postsynaptic alpha-adrenoceptor subtypes in rabbit blood vessels and rat anococcygeus muscle studied in vitro. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1981;3:854–66.10.1097/00005344-198107000-00019Search in Google Scholar PubMed

7. Ramagopal MV, Leighton HJ. Analysis of the presence of postjunctional alpha-2 adrenoceptors in the rat anococcygeus muscle. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1989;250:492–9.10.1016/S0022-3565(25)22237-6Search in Google Scholar

8. Doggrell SA. Effect of antimuscarinic agents on the contractile responses to cholinomimetics in the rat anococcygeus muscle. Br J Pharmacol 1981;73:829–35.10.1111/j.1476-5381.1981.tb08735.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

9. Rand MJ, Li CG. Activation of noradrenergic and nitrergic mechanisms in the rat anococcygeus muscle by nicotine. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 1992;19:103–11.10.1111/j.1440-1681.1992.tb00428.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

10. Li CG, Rand MJ. Evidence for a role of nitric oxide in the neurotransmitter system mediating relaxation of the rat anococcygeus muscle. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 1989;16:933–8.10.1111/j.1440-1681.1989.tb02404.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

11. Rand MJ, Li CG. Modulation of acetylcholine-induced contractions of the rat anococcygeus muscle by activation of nitrergic nerves. Br J Pharmacol 1993;110:1479–82.10.1111/j.1476-5381.1993.tb13988.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

12. Babaoglu MO, Aydos TR, Orer HS, Ilhan M. Antinicotinic activity of some 2-aminotetralin derivatives. A structure-activity relationship study. Arzneimittelforschung 1999;49:566–71.10.1055/s-0031-1300463Search in Google Scholar PubMed

13. Garthwaite J, Southam E, Boulton CL, Nielsen EB, Schmidt K, Mayer B. Potent and selective inhibition of nitric oxide-sensitive guanylyl cyclase by 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one. Mol Pharmacol 1995;48:184–8.10.1016/S0026-895X(25)10233-2Search in Google Scholar

14. Ertug FP, Singirik E, Buyuknacar HS, Gocmen C, Secilmis MA. Pharmacological profile of a nitric oxide donor spermine NONOate in the mouse corpus cavernosum. Turk J Med Sci 2014;44:569–75.10.3906/sag-1211-94Search in Google Scholar

15. Bloch E. Hemlock poisoning and the death of Socrates: Did Plato tell the truth? J Int Plato Soc 2001;1:5–7.10.14195/2183-4105_1_1Search in Google Scholar

16. Vetter J. Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum L.). Food Chem Toxicol 2004;42:1373–82.10.1016/j.fct.2004.04.009Search in Google Scholar PubMed

17. Reynolds T. Hemlock alkaloids from Socrates to poison aloes. Phytochemistry 2005;66:1399–406.10.1016/j.phytochem.2005.04.039Search in Google Scholar PubMed

18. Forsyth CS, Frank AA, Watrous BJ, Bohn AA. Effect of coniine on the developing chick embryo. Teratology 1994;49:306–10.10.1002/tera.1420490410Search in Google Scholar PubMed

19. Arihan O, Boz M, Iskit AB, Ilhan M. Antinociceptive activity of coniine in mice. J Ethnopharmacol 2009;125:274–8.10.1016/j.jep.2009.06.032Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Received: 2015-8-17
Revised: 2016-2-22
Accepted: 2016-3-23
Published Online: 2016-4-23
Published in Print: 2016-5-1

©2016 by De Gruyter

Downloaded on 30.12.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/znc-2015-0194/html
Scroll to top button