Vascular alpha-2 adrenoceptor function is decreased in rats with congestive heart failure.

Objective: Vascular alpha-2 adrenoceptor function of rats with congestive heart failure (CHF) was characterized in both in vivo and in vitro experiments.

Methods: CHF was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by coronary artery ligation. Sham-operated rats served as normal controls.

Nitric oxide in the oxygenator sweep gas reduces platelet activation during experimental perfusion.

Background: Hemorrhage is a major complication experienced in 10% to 35% of neonates treated with extracorporeal life support (ECLS). The increased bleeding tendency is partly due to an ECLS-induced thrombocytopenia and impaired platelet function. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of nitric oxide on the ECLS-induced platelet consumption and activation.

Effects of atrial natriuretic peptide on acute renal impairment in patients with heart failure after cardiac surgery.

Objective: To investigate the effects of IV infusion of atrial natriuretic peptide (human ANP 1-28) on renal function in patients with acute heart failure and renal impairment after cardiac surgery.

Design: Pharmocodynamic dose-effect investigation.

Setting: Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit of a university hospital.

Postoperative analgesic effects of an external cooling system and intra-articular bupivacaine/morphine after arthroscopic cruciate ligament surgery.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the analgesic effect of an external cooling system with or without the combined effect of intra-articularly administered bupivacaine/morphine after arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Fifty patients with isolated ACL insufficiency operated on under general anaesthesia were randomized to three different postoperative treatment groups. Group I was treated with the cooling system during the first 24 h after surgery and an intra-articular injection of 20 ml of physiological saline given at the completion of surgery; in group II, the cooling system was combined with an intra-articular injection of 20 ml bupivacaine 3.

Haemodynamic effects and pharmacokinetics of oral d- and l-nebivolol in hypertensive patients.

Objective: Nebivolol is a selective beta 1-adrenergic receptor blocker possessing an ancillary vasodilating effect. The objective of the present study was to study the haemodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties of nebivolol 5 mg once daily in a double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study.

Methods: Fifteen patients, 12 men and 3 women, with essential hypertension were investigated.

Lisinopril reduces postexercise albuminuria more effectively than atenolol in primary hypertension.

Physical exercise causes transient albuminuria. The mechanisms of postexercise albuminuria are not fully clarified but stimulation of the reninangiotensin system (RAS) probably plays a major role through intrarenal haemodynamic changes causing an elevated filtration pressure. In a randomised, double-blind, crossover study we compared the effects on urinary albumin excretion (UAE) of lisinopril (L) and atenolol (A) therapy, i.

alpha-Trinositol: a functional (non-receptor) neuropeptide Y antagonist in vasculature.

Neuropeptide Y is a sympathetic co-neurotransmitter released with noradrenaline upon sympathetic nerve stimulation. This study describes the ability of a synthetic inositol phosphate, alpha-trinositol(D-myo-inositol 1,2,6-triphosphate; PP 56) to antagonize vasoconstrictor responses to neuropeptide Y in-vitro as well as in-vivo. In human and guinea-pig isolated arteries alpha-trinositol potently (10 nM to 1 microM extracellular concentration) suppressed the constriction evoked by neuropeptide Y alone, the potentiation by neuropeptide Y of noradrenaline-evoked constriction, and the neuropeptide Y-induced inhibition of relaxation.

Increased levels of endothelin-1 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with lung allografts.

The aim of the present study was to determine levels of endothelin-1 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and in plasma in patients with lung and heart-lung allografts. The aim was based on the hypothesis that levels of endothelin-1 are elevated in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with lung allografts. Patients (n = 23) undergoing heart-lung (n = 8), single-lung (n = 10), or bilateral lung (n = 5) transplantation were included in the study.

Antinociceptive effect of alpha-trinositol, a novel D-myo-inositol phosphate derivative, in the formalin test in rats.

The antinociceptive effect of alpha-trinositol was examined in rats using the formalin test following systemic, spinal and local subcutaneous administration. Injection of formalin into the paw evoked two phases (phase 1: 0-9 min; phase 2: 10-60 min) of flinching behavior of the injected paw. Intrathecal administration of alpha-trinositol resulted in a dose-dependent suppression of the first (ED50: 8 microg) and second (ED50: 9 microg) phase of formalin-evoked behavioral response.

Functional explanation for increased atrial natriuretic peptide in systemic sclerosis.

We related atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) among 30 consecutive patients with systemic sclerosis (SScl) and 48 gender- and age-matched controls to the measurements of left ventricular (LV) function as evaluated by echocardiography and external pulse curves to determine possible causative factors for an increased level of plasma ANP. The patients had a markedly elevated plasma ANP level (239.4 +/- 59 vs.

Effects of prostaglandin E2 and capsaicin on behavior and cerebrospinal fluid amino acid concentrations of unanesthetized rats: a microdialysis study.

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) delivered to the spinal cord produces an increased sensitivity to noxious (hyperalgesia) and innocuous (allodynia) stimuli. The mechanisms that underlie this effect remain unknown, but a PGE2-evoked enhancement of spinal neurotransmitter release may be involved. To address this hypothesis, we examined the effect of PGE2 on CSF concentrations of amino acids and also the modulatory effect of PGE2 on capsaicin-evoked changes of spinal amino acid concentrations using a microdialysis probe placed in the lumbar subarachnoid space.

Morphine and morphine metabolite concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma in cancer pain patients after slow-release oral morphine administration.

In 34 cancer patients treated with chronic slow-release oral morphine, plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) minimum steady-state concentrations of morphine (M), morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G) and morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Both plasma and CSF morphine, M3G and M6G, concentrations were linearly related to dose of morphine. At steady state, the mean +/- SEM CSF/plasma morphine concentration ratio was 0.

Modulation of vascular contractile responses to alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenergic and neuropeptide Y receptor stimulation in rats with ischaemic heart failure.

In order to evaluate adaptational changes in vascular function in congestive heart failure (CHF), we studied the contractile responses of isolated arterial and venous blood vessels from rats suffering from CHF induced by coronary artery ligature, resulting in a myocardial infarction. The contractile responses of the basilar, femoral and renal arteries and of the iliac vein were examined in relation to adrenergic and neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptor function by the action of the alpha 1 agonist phenylephrine, the alpha 2 agonist clonidine and NPY. The contractile force was measured (in mN) and in % of K(+)-induced contraction as well as pD2 to each agonist.

Flavonoids in grapefruit juice inhibit the in vitro hepatic metabolism of 17 beta-estradiol.

Naringenin, quercetin and kaempferol, which may be found in glycoside form in natural compounds such as grapefruit, are potent inhibitors of cytochrome P-450 metabolism. The influence of these flavonoids on the metabolism of 17 beta-estradiol was investigated in a microsome preparation from human liver. The flavonoids were added in concentrations of 10, 50, 100, 250 and 500 mumol/l to the microsome preparation.

Seizure frequency and CSF parameters in a double-blind placebo controlled trial of gabapentin in patients with intractable complex partial seizures.

Gabapentin (GBP) is a non-protein-bound gamma amino acid which is not subjected to metabolic degradation in man. As part of a placebo-controlled double-blind study, patients suffering from intractable complex partial seizures with or without secondary generalization were followed with lumbar punctures at baseline and after three months of GBP treatment (900 mg/day or 1200 mg/day). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was analyzed for concentrations of GBP, amino acids including GABA, homovanillic acid (HVA), and 5 hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA).

Blood platelet activation and membrane glycoprotein changes during extracorporeal life support (ECLS). In vitro studies.

The aim of this study was to evaluate an in vitro model for investigation of platelet function parameters in an extracorporeal system. Two different perfusion pumps were compared, a roller pump (Polystan) and a centrifugal pump (Biomedicus). A continuous increase in glycoprotein (GP)1b-negative platelets was observed in both circuits.

Effects of some novel D-myo-inositol-phosphate derivatives on binding and sympathetic transmission.

The vascular effects of myo-inositol and a series of D-myo-inositol phosphate derivatives: D-myo inositol-1-monophosphate (Ins[1]P1), D-myo-inositol-2-monophosphate (Ins[2]P1), D-myo-inositol-1, 2-biphosphate (Ins[1,2,6]P2), D-myo-inositol-1,2,6-trisphosphate (Ins[1,2,6]P3, alpha-trinositol; PP56), D-myo-inositol-1,2,5,6-tetraphosphate (Ins[1,2,5,6]P4), and D-myo-inositol-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexa-phosphate (InsP6, phytic acid) were studied in binding assays in rat heart membranes, in vitro in isolated guinea pig basilar artery, and in vivo in pithed rats. In binding assays in rat heart membranes, Ins[1,2,6]P3, Ins[1,2,5,6]P4, and InsP6 displaced the binding of [3H] alpha-trinositol [3H]Ins[1,2,6]P3). In the isolated guinea pig basilar artery, Ins[1,2]P2 and Ins[1,2,6]P3 inhibited the contractile effects of exogenous neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the concentration range of 10(-8)-10(-6) M.

Effects of vagus nerve stimulation on amino acids and other metabolites in the CSF of patients with partial seizures.

Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve (VNS) is a new method for the treatment of patients with medically intractable epilepsy. Sixteen patients, ten of whom participated in a larger multicenter double-blind trial on the efficacy of VNS in epilepsy, and six who participated in pilot studies, consented to participate in the present study. Ten patients received HIGH stimulation and six patients LOW stimulation for the 3-month trial.