AIM To elucidate the involvement of noradrenergic system in the mechanism by which diazepam suppresses basal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. METHODS Plasma corticosterone and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels were determined in female rats treated with diazepam alone, as well as with diazepam in combination with clonidine (α(2)-adrenoreceptor agonist), yohimbine (α...

A 12-yr-old Caucasian female was referred to the pulmonary disease department in July 1997 for progressive on-exertion dyspnoea, persistent nonproductive cough and wheezing. Her symptoms had started 6 months prior to admission and moderately aggressive treatment with highdose inhaled steroids and short and long-acting b2-adrenoreceptor agonists, associated with short courses of oral prednisone ...

1. Patients with mild essential hypertension and elevated plasma renin activity, when compared with normal subjects and hypertensive subjects with normal plasma renin, demonstrated features of sympathetic nervous cardiovascular excitation, accompanied by a raised plasma noradrenaline concentration. 2. An elevated heart rate at rest, shortened cardiac pre-ejection period, and greater heart rate ...

In 12-15-day pregnant rat myometrium, spikes of the longitudinal muscle were discharged spontaneously in burst, while the circular muscle had predominantly a plateau potential. In the longitudinal muscle, phenylephrine (10(-7) g/ml) slightly decreased the duration of the burst discharge and suppressed the contraction by beta-adrenoreceptor stimulation. In the circular muscle, phenylephrine (10(...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether patients with congestive heart failure on different beta adrenoreceptor blocking drugs have similar haemodynamic responses to dobutamine. DESIGN Single centre, single blind, randomised, two period crossover study comparing carvedilol with metoprolol CR/XL. PATIENTS Ten patients with stable chronic congestive heart failure (ejection fraction < 40%) on chronic t...

We compared the antianginal efficacy of one conventional and three long acting beta-adrenoreceptor blocking agents in a randomised manner in 12 patients with stable angina pectoris. An exercise test was performed initially and in the 24th hour after a single daily dose of 160 mg of each beta-blocker at the end of a two week treatment period. In addition, glyceryl trinitrate consumption, anginal...

The possibility of beta-adrenoreceptor hypersensitivity after abrupt withdrawal of long-term therapy (8-18 months) with the slow-release (SR) formulation of oxprenolol (160-320 mg/day) was assessed in six patients with uncomplicated essential hypertension. The chronotropic dose 25 of isoproterenol (the dose that increases the resting heart rate by 25 beats/min), plasma concentration of catechol...

We examined the effect of estrogen on pressor responses to an alpha1-adrenoreceptor agonist (phenylephrine) in conscious female Wistar-Kyoto rats. At the age of 11 weeks, rats underwent ovariectomy or a sham procedure. At the age of 15 weeks, ovariectomized (OVX) rats received intramuscular injection of estradiol valerate (EV) 5 microg (OVX+EV 5 microg group; n = 6), EV 25 microg (OVX+EV 25 mic...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to probe cardiac complications, including heart-rate control, in a mouse model of type-2 diabetes. Heart-rate development in diabetic patients is not straight forward: In general, patients with diabetes have faster heart rates compared to non-diabetic individuals, yet diabetic patients are frequently found among patients treated for slow heart rates. Hence, ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Bacterial pneumonia is the most common cause of death in patients sustaining acute stroke and is believed to result from an increased aspiration. Recently, stroke-induced immunodeficiency was described in a mouse model of cerebral ischemia, which is primarily caused by overactivation of sympathetic nervous system. We tested if stroke-induced immunodeficiency increases the...