Skin vascular reactivity in healthy subjects: influence of hormonal status.

To investigate the influence of the hormonal status on skin vascular reactivity, 18 males, 18 women using oral contraceptives (oc), 17 premenopausal, and 18 postmenopausal women were studied. Finger skin temperature (FST, in degrees C) and laser Doppler flux (LDF, in perfusion units) were measured during heating (45 degrees C water bath) and cooling (15 degrees C) followed by a subsequent recovery period. Maximal heat-induced vasodilation was significantly higher in women using oc and in premenopausal women when compared with males.

Reproducibility of the finger cooling test.

A finger cooling test is used to objectify Raynaud's phenomenon and to assess its severity. For this purpose, finger skin temperature (FST) and laser Doppler flux (LDF) are measured on the fingertips before and during cooling of the hand (16 degrees water bath for 5 min) and a subsequent recovery period (20 min). To study reproducibility, this test was performed twice within 3 months in 34 healthy subjects and in 56 Raynaud patients.

Atrial natriuretic peptide. An overview of clinical pharmacology and pharmacokinetics.

The atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is part of a new family of cardiac hormones regulating water and salt homeostasis. Besides acting as a blood pressure-lowering agent, it also exerts potent natriuretic and diuretic effects. ANP can be considered an endogenous antagonist of the reninangiotensin-aldosterone system and the antidiuretic hormone.

Endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation in patients with type I diabetes.

The endothelium plays an important role in the regulation of vascular tone. Although animal data show evidence for an impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation in diabetes, human in vivo data are scarce. We investigated 11 type I diabetic patients and 11 matched healthy control subjects.

Effect of NG-monomethyl-L-arginine on the beta-adrenoceptor-mediated relaxation of rat mesenteric resistance arteries.

beta-Adrenoceptors are present on vascular smooth muscle and on endothelium. We investigated whether the endothelial beta-adrenoceptors induce relaxation of rat mesenteric resistance arteries by stimulation of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) release. To this end, the relaxation was studied in the presence and absence of 100 microM NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA), a specific inhibitor of the production of EDRF.

Reproducibility of electrocardiographic criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive patients in general practice.

Before changes in ECG voltage criteria can be accepted as evidence for changes in LVH, the variability of ECG measurements must be known. Here we report on the results of a study, on the variability of electrocardiographic single lead voltage parameters and (voltage) criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive patients in general practice. Two electrocardiograms were recorded, from 64 patients at an interval of 2 min, to measure the minute-to-minute variability.

Doppler ultrasound scanning in the detection of renal artery stenosis in hypertensive patients.

The diagnostic accuracy of Doppler ultrasound in the detection of renal arterial disease has been assessed in a prospective study of 61 hypertensive patients. The findings of Doppler ultrasound were compared with the results of renal angiography. In 15 patients (24.

Raynaud's phenomenon: subjective influence of female sex hormones.

Recent studies with standardized laboratory measurements of skin blood flow suggest an influence of female sex hormones on vasospasm. Therefore we evaluated the influence of sex hormonal status on the subjective complaints of Raynaud's phenomenon and furthermore the combined presence of Raynaud's phenomenon and migraine. A detailed questionnaire was filled in by 130 primary Raynaud patients (31 males, 99 females), while 27 females, with regular menstrual cycles without the use of oral contraceptives, kept a diary with daily registration (during three months) of frequency, severity and duration of the vasospastic attacks.

An automated computerized method using Finapres for measuring cardiovascular reflexes.

1. The major drawback of the cardiovascular reflex tests used to study autonomic failure is the time involved in calculating the results. To overcome this disadvantage, we have developed an automated computerized program using a FINger Arterial PRESsure instrument for the measurement of beat-to-beat heart rate and blood pressure on a finger.

The influence of different beta-blocking drugs on the peripheral circulation in Raynaud's phenomenon and in hypertension.

In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, the authors investigated the effects of different beta-adrenoceptor blocking drugs on the peripheral circulation. A single intravenous injection of the nonselective beta-blocker propranolol (0.20 mg/kg), the beta 1-selective adrenoceptor blocker metoprolol (0.

First dose hypotension after captopril; can it be predicted? A study of 240 patients.

We have studied prospectively the acute blood pressure lowering effect on an oral dose of captopril, 25 mg in 240 hypertensive patients. The mean relative reduction of systolic and diastolic BP was 16 and 15% respectively and the mean time to the mean arterial pressure nadir was 59 minutes. Systolic BP fell by more than 30% in 4.

Effects of coffee on cardiovascular responses to stress: a 14-week controlled trial.

We studied the cardiovascular responses to orthostatic and mental stress of 43 healthy subjects who daily received six cups of boiled or filtered coffee and of 21 healthy subjects who abstained from caffeine-containing beverages. All 64 subjects first received six cups of filtered coffee/day for 2 weeks. Then blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded before, during, and after a "stand upright" test and a mental arithmetic test.

Value of the plasma norepinephrine/3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol ratio for the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess whether the plasma norepinephrine/3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol ratio (NE/DHPG) is of diagnostic relevance for patients with a pheochromocytoma.

Subjects And Methods: In 18 patients with a histologically proven pheochromocytoma and in nine patients with congestive heart failure, plasma levels of NE, epinephrine (EPI), and DHPG (radioenzymatic method) were determined after 20 minutes of supine rest. In 10 healthy subjects, the plasma catecholamine responses to active standing (5 minutes) and mental arithmetic (5 minutes) were measured.

Kinetics of atrial natriuretic peptide in young and elderly subjects.

To study the influence of age on the kinetics of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in man, human (99-126) ANP 2.0 micrograms.min-1 was infused IV for 60 min in 8 healthy young (18 to 25 y) and 9 healthy elderly (71 to 84 y) subjects.

Does treatment with beta-adrenergic blocking agents cause a decrease in beta 2-adrenoceptor affinity?

The effect of beta-adrenoceptor antagonists (BAAs) differing in lipophilicity and partial agonist activity (PAA), and a full agonist, on the dissociation constant for [125I]-(-)- iodocyanopindolol binding to beta 2-adrenoceptors (KD) has been investigated. Twelve healthy, normotensive male volunteers (mean age 22.3 y) were treated with different BAAs according to a cross-over design.

The effect of caffeine on renal vein renin concentration in patients with renal arterial disease.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether caffeine stimulates selectively renal vein renin levels at the side of unilateral stenosis in patients with renovascular hypertension. In this study seven of the involved patients had renal arterial stenosis and four had no stenosis. Four of the seven patients with a stenosis had retrospectively-proven renovascular hypertension.

Double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study of oral nicardipine in the treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon.

The purpose of this study was to measure the efficacy and side effects of oral nicardipine in the treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). The study consisted of a 3-week baseline period followed by a double-blind, randomized, two-period placebo-controlled, balanced crossover design. Both treatment periods of 3 weeks with either oral nicardipine (3 x 30 mg) or matching placebo were interrupted by a 2-week washout period.

Boiled coffee and blood pressure. A 14-week controlled trial.

The question of whether long-term elimination of coffee from the diet lowers blood pressure has not been settled. Consumption of Scandinavian-style "boiled coffee" is associated with coronary heart disease. However, little is known about the effect of brewing method on the blood pressure-raising potential of coffee.

Dose-dependent inhibition of the hemodynamic response to dipyridamole by caffeine.

We investigated the effects of the adenosine antagonist caffeine on the hemodynamic response to dipyridamole infusion (0.4 mg/kg for 4 minutes). According to a randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind protocol, eight normotensive volunteers each participated in five tests: placebo after placebo, dipyridamole after placebo, and dipyridamole after 1, 2, and 4 mg/kg caffeine.

Attenuated forearm vasodilator response to atrial natriuretic factor in the elderly.

The vasodilator potency of human atrial natriuretic factor-(99-126) was investigated in the forearm vascular bed of 10 young and 10 elderly normotensive volunteers with venous occlusion strain gauge plethysmography. Atrial natriuretic factor was infused at six increasing dose steps into the brachial artery from 0.001 up to 0.