Sensitivity changes to inotropic agents in rabbit atria after chronic experimental diabetes

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Abstract
The effect of experimental diabetes on the sensitivity of isolated left atrial strips to inotropic agents was investigated in rabbits made diabetic with alloxan. After 4 weeks of diabetes no change in sensitivity was detected in response to isoproterenol or ouabain. In contrast, 15 weeks of diabetes induced a decreased sensitivity to β-adrenergic stimulation, exhibited as a shift to the right in concentration–response curves obtained in response to isoproterenol and noradrenaline. In addition, after 15 weeks of diabetes the inotropic response to ouabain was depressed, and a small decrease in sensitivity was detected in response to forskolin. In contrast, no significant changes in the concentration–response curves obtained from α-adrenergic stimulation by phenylephrine or calcium chloride were detected. Unlike the streptozotocin diabetic rat, which exhibits low serum thyroid hormone levels, no changes in serum thyroid hormones were detected in the alloxan diabetic rabbit. It is suggested that the increased inotropic sensitivity to α-adrenergic agonists observed in the diabetic rat, but not in the rabbit, may be due to low serum thyroid hormone levels. In contrast, the deleterious effects of diabetes on β-adrenergic and ouabain sensitivity occur independently of changes in serum thyroid hormones.