[Effect of ethanol on tone of isolated smooth muscle of the the pulmonary artery].

The response of the pulmonary artery smooth muscle tone to ethanol, and the effects of haloperidol (a dopaminergic receptor blocker), propranolol (a beta-adrenergic receptor blocker) and verapamil (a calcium channel blocker) on the response to ethanol were studied using the dog pulmonary artery smooth muscle. The results have shown that ethanol consistently induces a dose-dependent contraction of pulmonary artery smooth muscle which is not substantially modulated by the prior administration of haloperidol, but is partially blocked by propranolol, suggesting that catecholaminergic receptors are partly involved in the mediation of the ethanol induced pulmonary artery smooth muscle contraction. However, the results of this study have shown that ethanol induced contraction of pulmonary smooth muscle is not altered by verapamil in doses which blocked the contractil response of airway smooth muscle to ethanol.

[Normal values of the diffusing capacity of the lungs in adults].

A steady state diffusing capacity (DLCO) has been measured in 509 healthy (normal) adults (288 males and 221 females) of the age between 18 and 74 years. Obtained DLCO values were related to age, height, body weight and body surface area. Data suggest that there is a good correlation between observed independent variables and DLCO, although there were differences related to sex, presumably because of wide individual variation.