5‐HYDROXYTRYPTAMINE AND DOPAMINE TRANSPORT BY RAT AND HUMAN BLOOD PLATELETS

Abstract

1 Uptake of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) by rat platelets in plasma was very rapid and diffusion did not contribute significantly at substrate concentrations that did not saturate the active transport. 2 Under conditions which allowed measurement of initial rates of uptake, kinetic analysis revealed a high affinity uptake mechanism for 5-HT (K_m = 0.7 μM). 3 Uptake of dopamine was relatively slow and involved a lower affinity (K_m = 70 μM) active transport process. Diffusion contributed significantly at concentrations that did not saturate the active transport. 4 5-HT competitively inhibited uptake of dopamine, and vice versa; K_i values for both amines were similar to their respective K_m values for uptake. 5 Chlorimipramine, desmethylimipramine and benztropine were tested as uptake inhibitors. Each was equipotent against 5-HT and dopamine, although the absolute potency of the drugs varied greatly. Chlorimipramine was the most potent (K_i ≃ 100 nM), and kinetic analysis revealed that the inhibition was competitive against both 5-HT and dopamine. 6 Similar results were obtained in studies with human platelets: K_m values for 5-HT and dopamine were about 1μM and 100 μM respectively. Activity profiles of inhibitors were also similar: each compound tested was equipotent against 5-HT and dopamine, and the two amines each competitively inhibited uptake of the other. 7 We conclude that dopamine is actively transported by platelets via the 5-HT uptake mechanism, but with a much lower affinity. There is no high-affinity dopamine-specific mechanism corresponding to that in the corpus striatum. Consequently although platelets may be valid models of transport in 5-hydroxytryptaminergic neurones, they should not be regarded as models for the dopamine transport mechanism found in dopaminergic neurones.