Phosphorylation potential and adenosine release during norepinephrine infusion in guinea pig heart

This study tested the hypothesis that adenosine released from isolated guinea pig hearts in response to norepinephrine is related to the cellular phosphorylation potential (PP;[ATP]/[ADP][Pi]), where Pi is inorganic phosphate. 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to measure the relative concentrations of Pi, phosphocreatine (PCr), and ATP. After a control period, norepinephrine was infused for 20 min during which 31P-NMR spectra and samples of venous effluent were collected every minute. With norepinephrine infusion, PCr decreased rapidly to 72% of control by 8 min and then recovered to 80% of control for the remaining 12 min. ATP fell slowly to 70% of control over 20 min. Pi increased to a peak at 2 min, then declined slowly to a steady state from 8 to 20 min. Adenosine release increased at 7 min and then slowly fell to a steady state from 10 to 20 min. There is hyperbolic relationship between adenosine release and PP; when the PP declines, a level is reached below which there is a rapid increase in adenosine release. These data support the hypothesis that adenosine release is regulated by the cellular PP as a closely related variable