The treatment with pyridostigmine improves the cardiocirculatory function in rats with chronic heart failure.

Sympathetic hyperactivity and its outcome in heart failure have been thoroughly investigated to determine the focus of pharmacologic approaches targeting the sympathetic nervous system in the treatment of this pathophysiological condition. On the other hand, therapeutic approaches aiming to protect the reduced cardiac parasympathetic function have not received much attention. The present study evaluated rats with chronic heart failure (six to seven weeks after coronary artery ligation) and the effects of an increased parasympathetic function by pyridostigmine (an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor) on the following aspects: arterial pressure (AP), heart rate (HR), baroreceptor and Bezold-Jarisch reflex, pulse interval (PI) and AP variability, cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic tonus, intrinsic heart rate (i-HR) and cardiac function.