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The effects of alpha-and beta-adrenergic receptor blockade on gas exchange in the dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula L.) during normoxia and hypoxia

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Summary

The role of the natural increases in the circulating levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline in response to hypoxia has been investigated using pharmacological blockade of alpha-and beta-adrenergic receptors. Fish were equipped with indwelling arterial cannulae and rubber funnels over the gills to allow detailed analysis of branchial oxygen transfer.

Although blood oxygen levels, oxygen consumption and branchial oxygen transfer were reduced following adrenergic receptor blockade, similar changes in these variables also occurred with time in control animals. In conclusion, we can find no substantial evidence that the increase in circulating levels of catecholamines plays any crucial role in the cardiovascular or respiratory responses of these animals to hypoxia.

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Author notes

  1. J. D. Metcalfe

    Present address: Directorate of Fisheries Research, Fisheries Laboratory, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, NR33 OHT, Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Comparative Physiology, University of Birmingham, PO Box 363, B15 2TT, Birmingham, UK

    J. D. Metcalfe & P. J. Butler

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  1. J. D. Metcalfe
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  2. P. J. Butler
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Metcalfe, J.D., Butler, P.J. The effects of alpha-and beta-adrenergic receptor blockade on gas exchange in the dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula L.) during normoxia and hypoxia. J Comp Physiol B 158, 39–44 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00692727

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00692727

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