• DOI:10.1097/FBP.0b013e32832ec5aa
• Corpus ID: 35558814

Penile erection and yawning induced by dopamine D2-like receptor agonists in rats: influence of strain and contribution of dopamine D2, but not D3 and D4 receptors

@article{Depoortre2009PenileEA,
  title={Penile erection and yawning induced by dopamine D2-like receptor agonists in rats: influence of strain and contribution of dopamine D2, but not D3 and D4 receptors},
  author={Ronan Y Depoort{\`e}re and Laurent Bardin and Michael Rodrigues and Erika Abrial and M. Aliaga and Adrian Newman-Tancredi},
  journal={Behavioural Pharmacology},
  year={2009},
  volume={20},
  pages={303-311}
}

• R. Depoortère, L. Bardin, +3 authors A. Newman-Tancredi
• Published 1 July 2009
• Biology, Psychology
• Behavioural Pharmacology

Dopamine (DA) is implicated in penile erection (PE) and yawning (YA) in rats through activation of D2-like receptors. However, the exact role of each subtype (D2, D3 and D4) of this receptor family in PE/YA is still not clearly elucidated. We recorded concomitantly PE and YA after treatment with agonists with various levels of selectivity for the different subtypes of D2-like receptors. In addition, we investigated the efficacy of antagonists with selective or preferential affinity for each of the three receptor subtypes to prevent apomorphine-induced PE and YA. Wistar rats were more sensitive than Long–Evans rats to the erectogenic activity of the nonselective DA agonist apomorphine (0.01–0.08 mg/kg), whereas Sprague–Dawley rats were insensitive. However, all the three strains were equally sensitive to apomorphine-induced YA. In Wistar rats, apomorphine (0.01–0.63 mg/kg), the D2/D3 agonists quinelorane and (+)7-OH-DPAT (0.000625–10 mg/kg) or PD 128,907 (0.01–10 mg/kg), but not the D4 agonists PD-168,077, RO-10-5824 and ABT-724 (0.04–0.63 mg/kg), produced PE and YA with bell-shaped dose–response curves. Similarly, ABT-724 and CP226-269 (another D4 agonist) failed to elicit PE and YA in Sprague–Dawley rats. Furthermore, in Wistar rats, PE and YA elicited by apomorphine (0.08 mg/kg) were not modified by selective D3 (S33084 and SB-277011, 0.63–10 mg/kg) or D4 (L-745,870 and RBI-257, 0.63–2.5 mg/kg) antagonists, but were prevented by the preferential D2 blocker L-741,626 (near-full antagonism at 2.5 mg/kg). The present data do not support a major implication of either DA D3 or D4 receptors in the control of PE and YA in rats, but indicate a preponderant role of DA D2 receptors.