Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Characterization of Vasoreactivity in a Semi-arboreal Snake, the Tokara Habu (Protobothrops tokarensis)

Tomoki Ootawa
ORCID logo ,
Siyuan Wu
,
Ryoya Sekio
,
Henry Smith
,
Md. Zahorul Islam
ORCID logo ,
Ha Thi Thanh Nguyen
ORCID logo ,
Yasuhiro Uno
,
Mitsuya Shiraishi
,
Atsushi Miyamoto
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 2 October 2023 / Approved: 3 October 2023 / Online: 3 October 2023 (09:14:37 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Ootawa, T.; Wu, S.; Sekio, R.; Smith, H.; Islam, M.Z.; Nguyen, H.T.T.; Uno, Y.; Shiraishi, M.; Miyamoto, A. Characterization of Vasoreactivity in a Semi-Arboreal Snake, the Tokara Habu (Protobothrops tokarensis). Animals 2023, 13, 3629. Ootawa, T.; Wu, S.; Sekio, R.; Smith, H.; Islam, M.Z.; Nguyen, H.T.T.; Uno, Y.; Shiraishi, M.; Miyamoto, A. Characterization of Vasoreactivity in a Semi-Arboreal Snake, the Tokara Habu (Protobothrops tokarensis). Animals 2023, 13, 3629.

Abstract

Vasoreactivity is relatively well documented in terrestrial snakes, but has previously been investigated in only one semi-arboreal snake species. Consequently, the extent to which vasoreactivity is common across snake taxa, or varies by habitat is unclear. The Tokara habu (Protobothrops tokarensis) is a semi-arboreal snake endemic to only two small adjacent Japanese islands, and hence a useful species for further investigation of vasoreactivity. We evaluated responses to known vasoactive substances in thoracic aortas isolated from Tokara habu. Under resting tension, noradrenaline and angiotensin II induced concentration-dependent contraction, but acetylcholine, serotonin (5-hydroxytriptamine; 5-HT), and isoproterenol induced relaxation followed by contraction. Histamine and rattlesnake bradykinin had no effect. Experiments with receptor-specific antagonists suggest that M1 and M3 receptors are involved in the acetylcholine-induced response, 5-HT1, 5-HT2 and 5-HT7 receptors in the serotonin-induced response, and β1 and β2 receptors in isoproterenol-induced relaxation. NO may be involved in acetylcholine-induced relaxation, but not the responses to serotonin or isoproterenol. In contrast to the uniform vasoreactivity observed in terrestrial snakes, the vasoreactivity of semi-arboreal snakes may be governed by diverse regulatory mechanisms.

Keywords

acetylcholine; adrenoceptors; environment; habitat; Tokara Islands; serotonin; snake; vasoreactivity

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Get PDF Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.