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Journal of Experimental Biology 141,21-32 (1989)
Published by Company of Biologists 1989

The Use of Alpha-Methyl-p-Tyrosine to Control Circulating Catecholamtnes in The Dogfish Scyliorhinus Canicula: The Effects on Gas Exchange in Normoxia and Hypoxia

J. D. METCALFE ¹ and P. J. BUTLER ²

¹ Department of Zoology and Comparative Physiology, University of Birmingham, PO Box 363, Birmingham B15 2TT; Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Fisheries Laboratory, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 OHT.
² Department of Zoology and Comparative Physiology, University of Birmingham PO Box 363, Birmingham B15 2TT

We assessed the effectiveness of alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine in inhibiting catecholamine synthesis in the dogfish and examined the effects of catecholamine depletion on the cardiovascular system in normoxia and in response to hypoxia.

Although alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine (50mgday^-1 intraperitoneally for 5 days) substantially reduced the dogfish's ability to increase the level of circulating catecholamines in response to hypoxia, it also substantially reduced normoxic oxygen consumption in the whole animal, an observation not previously reported. Metabolic studies on isolated dogfish hepatocytes indicate that this is a direct effect on oxidative metabolism at the cellular level rather than any effect on the oxygen delivery function of the fish's cardiovascular system. Despite the effects of alpha-methyl tyrosine on normoxic oxygen consumption, the present results indicate that the lack of any large increase in the circulating levels of catecholamines in response to hypoxia in fish treated with alpha-methyl tyrosine does not compromise their gas exchange ability.

Key words: catecholamines, dogfish, gas exchange

Accepted on July 1, 1988

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