A Symposium: Regional Blood Flow In Congestive Heart Failure
Vascular sympathetic nerve function in congestive heart failure*

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9149(88)80014-6Get rights and content

To determine if intrinsic abnormalities of sympathetic nerve function might contribute to enhanced vascular tone in congestive heart failure, chronic myocardial infarction (infarct) was produced in rats by coronary artery ligation 9 to 10 months previously for comparison with animals subjected to sham operation (sham). The excised pulmonary artery, preincubated with 3H-norepinephrine (NE) was superfused, and stimulated electrically at 2, 4, 8 and 16 Hz. The nonnormalized data at each frequency for electrically evoked 3H overflow in excess of basal outflow was similar in sham and infarct vessels (difference not significant); however, the shape of the frequency-response curves was different. The 3H overflow/pulse from sham vessels was constant between 2 and 16 Hz; however, for the infarct vessels there was a significant reduction (p <0.05) at the highest frequency (16 Hz). Because of an 18.4% lower peak 3H overflow at 16 Hz (difference not significant), the infarct frequency-response curve shifted significantly (4 and 8 Hz, p <0.025 and p <0.01) to the left when data were expressed as a percent of peak percent 3H overflow, suggesting an increased sensitivity of the system. These data suggest that an intrinsic vascular sympathetic nerve abnormality is not a major cause of the increased plasma NE in congestive heart failure; increased nerve activity or decreased clearance of NE may be more important.

References (24)

  • ZelisR et al.

    Alterations in vasomotor tone in congestive heart failure

    Prog Cardiovasc Dis

    (1982)
  • MaickelRP et al.

    A method for the determination of serotonin and norepinephrine is discrete areas of the rat brain

    Int J Neuropharmacol

    (1968)
  • StarkeK et al.

    Preferential blockade of presynaptic alpha-adrenoceptors of yohimbine

    Euro J Pharmacol

    (1975)
  • FrancisGS et al.

    The neurohumoral axis in congestive heart failure

    Ann Intern Med

    (1984)
  • SoleMJ

    Sympathetic neurotransmitter activity and congestive heart failure

  • ZuckerIH et al.

    The mechanism of adaptation of left atrial stretch receptors in dogs with chronic congestive heart failure

    J Clin Invest

    (1977)
  • LonghurstJ et al.

    Cardiovascular response to local hindlimb hypoxemia: relation to the exercise reflex

    Am J Physiol

    (1979)
  • PfefferMA et al.

    Myocardial infarct size and ventricular function in rats

    Circ Res

    (1979)
  • StarkeK et al.

    Comparison of the effects of clonidine on pre- and post-synaptic adrenoceptors in the rabbit pulmonary artery

    Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol

    (1974)
  • SuC et al.

    The release of 3H-norepinephrine in arterial strips studied by the techniques of superfusion and transmural stimulation

    J Pharmacol Exp Ther

    (1970)
  • ZelisR

    Relative presynaptic and postsynaptic effects of urapidil on adrenoceptors in the rabbit pulmonary artery

    J Pharmacol Exp Ther

    (1986)
  • WaldmeirPC et al.

    Simultaneous automated estimation of noradrenaline and dopamine in brain tissues

    Clin Chem

    (1974)
  • Cited by (3)

    *

    This study was supported in part by Grant HL30691 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the U.S. Public Health Service, Bethesda, Maryland.

    View full text