The mechanism by which these agonists induce bronchodilatation is thought to involve airway sensory nerves. In this study, the expression and function of dopamine D 2 receptor were examined in sensory ganglia supplying the airways. Neuronal dopamine D 2 receptor mRNA expression was demonstrated by single-cell RT-PCR following laser-assisted microdissection. The projection of the neurons to the airways was confirmed by retrograde neuronal labeling. In functional studies, dopamine D 2 receptor agonists (AR-C65116AB and ropinirole) inhibited intraneuronal calcium mobilization in rat capsaicin-sensitive primary sensory neurons and capsaicin-induced plasma extravasation in the rat trachea. Our results provide support to the hypothesis that dopamine D 2 receptor activation inhibits neurogenic inflammation and proinflammatory reflex responses. D 2 dopamine receptor; jugular-nodose ganglion; dorsal root ganglion; rat PHARMACOLOGICAL EVIDENCE SUGGESTS that for the treatment of diseases associated with airway hyperreactivity and airway obstruction, such as bronchial asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, administration of inhaled dopamine induces bronchodilatation (5, 23) in a dose-related manner (21). Furthermore, in the therapy of airway diseases, dual dopamine D 2 receptors (D 2 )/ 2 -receptor agonists have been shown to have beneficial effects compared with conventional  2 -receptor agonists alone (4). Functional experiments indicate that this additional effect is mediated through normalizing the pathological increased activity of sensory nerves (17).For a better understanding of these clinical observations, more knowledge is needed about the dopamine system in the respiratory tract, especially concerning sensory nerves projecting to the airways. Dopamine has been demonstrated to be localized in some peripheral tissues, also in several nonneuronal cell types (8). There is a 4.4-fold increase in dopamine content compared with the local noradrenalin concentration (1). This excess of dopamine suggests that it acts in a role other than a noradrenaline precursor (20). Various studies suggest that dopamine is released from nerve endings in the periphery and interacts with specific receptors. D 2 , which are divided into two different isoforms derived from alternative RNA splicing (13,25), are present on many neurons in the periphery (24), and their activation can modulate neuronal activity (26). So far, expression of D 2 mRNA has been only reported in rat sensory ganglia (33).However, to our knowledge, no information is available on the expression of dopamine receptors in sensory neurons projecting into the respiratory system, thus the aim of this study is to determine expression and function of dopamine receptors, with particular respect to D 2 .
MATERIALS AND METHODSAnimals. For the experiments described below, male SpragueDawley rats (Charles River) were used. All animal studies carried out are conform to Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee guidelines.Retrograde neuronal tracing. Rats were anesthetize...