Amrinone therapy for congestive heart failure in outpatients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Amrinone, 100 mg orally every 8 hours, was administered to 13 patients with moderate-to-severe congestive heart failure (CHF) for 1 month on an outpatient basis to determine the beneficial and undesirable effects of this new cardioactive agent in this clinical setting. These subjects received conventional CHF medications during the course of study. Ten patients who received conventional CHF medications alone served as a control group.

Clonidine in congestive heart failure: a vasodilator with negative inotropic effects.

Fourteen patients with moderately severe congestive heart failure (CHF) were given clonidine orally (0.2 and 0.4 mg doses) to determine the hemodynamic effects of a typical centrally acting vasodilator.

Captopril in primary pulmonary hypertension.

Seven women with primary pulmonary hypertension underwent hemodynamic evaluation, at rest and during exercise, before and after the oral administration of captopril. Dose-response curves were generated for the 25-, 50- and 100-mg doses. Captopril significantly reduced systemic blood pressure and systemic vascular resistance; these effects persisted at submaximal levels of exercise.

Vasodilators and prostaglandin inhibitors in primary pulmonary hypertension.

Ten women with primary pulmonary hypertension had resting hemodynamic measurements taken before and after the nonparenteral administration of various vasodilators and prostaglandin inhibitors. Only sublingual isoproterenol, alone or combined with sublingual isosorbide dinitrate, effected a substantial (greater than 20%) drop in pulmonary vascular resistance; this decrease was accompanied by little change in pulmonary artery pressure. Isosorbide dinitrate was the only drug that elicited any reduction in pulmonary artery pressure; pulmonary vascular resistance decreased modestly.

Carrier-mediated transport of D-ribose by Rhodotorula glutinis.

The kinetics of D-ribose transport by Rhodotorula glutinis were investigated over a 1 000-fold range of sugar concentrations. Analysis of the saturation isotherm revealed the presence of two carrier systems for D-ribose in the Rhodotorula plasma membrane. These two carriers exhibited Km values of 1.