N-6 and N-3 PUFA in liver lipids, thromboxane formation and blood pressure from SHR during diets supplemented with evening primrose, sunflowerseed or fish oil.

Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) after weaning (at 4 weeks of age) were fed diets supplemented with either sunflowerseed oil (SO), evening primrose oil (EPO), fish oil (FO) or EPO + FO (50%: 50%, v/v) for 22 weeks. A diet with commercially available pellets served as control. Systolic blood pressure was significantly lower in the dietary groups receiving FO, EPO and FO + EPO, the former being most effective.

Erythrocyte sodium transport and renal sodium excretion after saline loading in young and adult spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and normotensive (WKY) rats.

Adult SHR aged 19-21 weeks, subjected to osmotic diuresis, responded to an intravenous 1.8% saline loading (15 ml/kg b.w.

Combined Doppler and M-mode analysis of diastolic filling behaviour in arterial hypertension with and without left ventricular hypertrophy.

The authors analysed Doppler and M-mode derived diastolic parameters of left ventricular filling in patients with arterial hypertension with and without left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and with hypertrophic nonobstructive cardiomyopathy (HNCM). In hypertrophied hearts they demonstrated that the transmitral flow during rapid filling phase was significantly reduced. The lower early diastolic flow is compensated by an augmentation of atrial systole.

Clinical significance of noninvasive recordings of micropotentials of the heart--experience over a two years' period.

To assess the risk of malignant ventricular tachycardia (VT) and sudden cardiac death, clinical data including Holter monitoring, programmed ventricular stimulation and highly amplified signal averaged ECG were employed. Among 394 patients, 175 had late potentials. Close correlations were demonstrated between the presence, duration and voltage of late potentials and left ventricular function disturbances, arrhythmia profile, presence and frequency of VT.

Transient changes in cyclic AMP and in the enzymic activity of protein kinase and phosphorylase during the cardiac cycle in the canine myocardium and the effect of propranolol.

Oscillation of cyclic AMP and in the activity ratio of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and of glycogen phosphorylase with the cardiac cycle were demonstrated in the canine heart in situ. For tissue sampling an ECG (R-wave)-triggered, automatically working push-freeze-drill apparatus was developed which allows intraventricular cryobiopsies from the left ventricular muscle of anaesthetized open-chest dogs. The nucleotide cyclic AMP oscillated with the cardiac cycle during normal working condition, the higher cyclic AMP level occuring during systole.

Nitrendipine treatment in so-called therapy-resistant arterial hypertension; effect as monotherapy and in combination with propranolol on blood pressure, heart rate, other hemodynamic parameters, plasma renin activity, and catecholamines.

Twenty-three patients [mean age 49.7 +/- 5.6 years (WHO II-III)] with severe hypertension and not responding to previous drug treatment were included in the study to evaluate the effect of nitrendipine (NTP) as monotherapy and also in combination with propranolol (PRO).

Altered effect of BAY K 8644 after exposure of the rat aorta to IBMX or Db cAMP.

The development of isometric tension of aortic rings from rats was tested after cumulative administration of BAY K 8644 before and after exposure of the aortic preparations for 15 or 60 minutes to IBMX (10(-4) M) or Db cAMP (3.10(-4) M). BAY K 8644 exhibits dose-dependent contractions of those aortic rings which have not been exposed or have been exposed for only 15 minutes to IBMX or Db cAMP.

Bilateral atrial myxomas. Surgical correction after echocardiographic diagnosis.

A case is reported of bilateral atrial myxomas diagnosed noninvasively by echocardiography and successfully removed. The excised tumor mass consisted of a mobile right atrial myxoma prolapsing into the right ventricle and a less mobile, not prolapsing myxoma in the left atrium. The operation was performed entirely on the basis of echocardiographic findings, which correlated well with the operative results.

Phonocardiographic diagnosis of diaphragmatic flutter.

A 45-year-old man was reported who experienced rapid rhythmic nodding of his head and equally rapid contractions in his epigastrium, which participated by certain psychic situations. Auscultation and phonocardiography revealed a sound with "machine" rhythmicity at a rate of 333 per minute over the lower lateral thoracic region during all cardiac phases, and a diagnosis of "diaphragmatic flutter" was established. The symptoms and signs were controlled by diazepam.

Erythrocyte sodium metabolism and renal sodium excretion in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and related normotensive rats (WKY).

SHR being in osmotic diuresis responded to an intravenous saline load with greater sodium excretion than WKY. Volume expansion and sodium loading did not affect the erythrocyte sodium content. Both in the non-infused and in the infused sodium-loaded state SHR had a greater Na-Li-exchange rate than WKY.

Characterization of calcium antagonist receptors in highly purified porcine cardiac sarcolemma.

Drug receptors for the Ca-antagonists nitrendipine and (-)desmethoxyverapamil (D-888) were studied in porcine cardiac sarcolemma. The dihydropyridine (DHP) derivative [3H]nitrendipine binds to a single population of high affinity sites (KD = 0.44 +/- 0.

Decreased contractile response after exposure of the rat aorta to Db cAMP or IBMX.

Isometric tension developed by different receptor agonists was found to be decreased after pretreatment of rat aortic rings with IBMX or Db cAMP and only partially restored by CaCl2 and A 23187. The contraction produced by Bay k 8644 was converted into dose-dependent relaxation after pretreatment of the aorta rings with Db cAMP or IBMX. An alteration of the calcium channel is assumed to play a common role in the cAMP-dependent inhibition of the smooth muscle contraction.

Sarcolemmal Na+-Ca2+ exchange and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ uptake in several cardiac preparations.

Calcium transport mediated by the sarcolemma (SL) Na+-Ca2+ exchanger and by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ pump were studied in crude membranes from ventricular tissue of newborn and young rat, adult frog, guinea pig, chick, hamster, Rhesus monkey, rabbit, and pig. Transport activities were evaluated per mass of membrane protein and heart tissue. Relative to unit of ventricular mass Na+-Ca2+ exchange activity (at [Ca2+] = 75 microM) is highest in newborn rat, frog, guinea pig, and chick amounting to about 17.