Alpha 2-adrenoceptor blocking properties of idazoxan stereoisomers: stereoselectivity for presynaptic alpha 2-adrenoceptors

The alpha 2-adrenoceptor blocking properties of idazoxan enantiomers were evaluated at pre- and postsynaptic level. The antagonism of the two idazoxan stereoisomers was assessed, at presynaptic level, by their ability to antagonize clonidine at the alpha 2-adrenoceptors regulating noradrenaline release. The antagonist (+)-idazoxan showed an affinity towards the alpha 2-autoreceptors 40 times higher than that showed by (-)-idazoxan. Binding studies revealed (+)-idazoxan to be 7-8 times more potent than (-)-idazoxan in inhibiting the p-[3H]aminoclonidine binding. These results indicate a different affinity of alpha 2-adrenoceptors for the two idazoxan stereoisomers, thus suggesting that the alpha 2-adrenoceptors located pre- and postsynaptically may be of two stereochemically different subtypes.