The effects of beta blockers on exercise capacity and on training response in elderly subjects.

Treatment of 8 hypertensive elderly subjects with atenolol or with labetalol did not affect exercise performance, except after the development of circulatory congestion in 1 patient. Treatment with beta blockers did not alter the response to an exercise training programme in 15 elderly patients with ischaemic heart disease, as compared with 11 patients without such treatment.

Responses of the systemic circulation and of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system to ketanserin at rest and exercise in normal man.

The systemic circulation at rest and during exercise was studied in ten normal male volunteers, after placebo on one occasion and after acute intravenous administration of the serotonergic antagonist ketanserin on another occasion. The effects of ketanserin on the components of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, on plasma catecholamines and on exercise capacity for graded uninterrupted exercise were also investigated. At rest in recumbency rapid intravenous injection of 10 mg of ketanserin, followed by a continuous infusion of 2 mg/h, produced an acute but transient fall in mean intra-arterial pressure of 6 mmHg compared with placebo.

Hemodynamic and humoral effects of prostaglandin inhibition in exercising humans.

This double-blind placebo-controlled study investigated whether indomethacin-induced (500 mg/3 days) prostaglandin synthesis inhibition (PG inhibition) affected systemic hemodynamics and several humoral factors in nine sodium-replete normal humans, during exercise. Independent of the level of physical activity, PG inhibition was accompanied by small but significant (P less than 0.001) increases in systolic (+4.

Ventilatory thresholds during short- and long-term exercise.

The ventilatory (anaerobic) threshold for short-term exercise was defined as the work rate or O2 uptake (VO2) immediately below the work rate at which ventilation increased disproportionately relative to work rate or VO2, and the ventilatory threshold for long-term exercise as the work rate or VO2 immediately below the work rate at which ventilation continued to increase with time rather than attain a steady state. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how both thresholds relate to each other and how they relate to other measures of physical performance capacity. The subjects were eight healthy males, 20-53 yr of age.

Effects of beta 1-adrenoceptor agonism on plasma renin activity in normal men.

The contribution of beta 1-adrenoceptors to the regulation of plasma renin activity was investigated in nine healthy sodium-replete volunteers: seven subjects received a cumulative intravenous dose of 75 micrograms/kg prenalterol, a predominant beta 1-adrenoceptor agonist, and two subjects only vehiculum. In the seven actively treated subjects beta 1-adrenoceptor agonism increased (P less than 0.001) systolic intra-arterial pressure by an average of 16 +/- 4 mm Hg and heart rate by 19 +/- 3 beats min.