Lack of contribution of nitric oxide to basal vasomotor tone in heart failure.

Patients with heart failure have reduced forearm vasodilator responses when endothelial cell nitric oxide production is stimulated by muscarinic agonists. The aim of this study was to determine if activity of the nitric oxide pathway was also abnormal under basal conditions. Forearm blood flow (FBF) was measured with strain-gauge plethysmography in response to the intraarterial infusion of a subsystemic dose range of L-N-monomethylarginine (L-NMMA), a competitive inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase. In 18 normal subjects, the baseline FBF of 3.6 +/- 1.4 was decreased by 0.3 +/- 0.5 (p < 0.01), 1.0 +/- 0.7 (p < 0.01), 1.4 +/- 0.9 (p < 0.01), and 1.3 +/- 1.3 (p < 0.01) ml/min/100 ml forearm volume during infusions of 1, 4, 8, and 16 mumol/min of L-NMMA, respectively. In 10 patients with heart failure, the baseline FBF of 2.6 +/- 0.9 was decreased by 0.4 +/- 0.5 (p < 0.05), 0.4 +/- 0.5 (p < 0.05), 0.9 +/- 0.8 (p < 0.01), and 0.9 +/- 0.7 (p < 0.01) ml/min/100 ml forearm volume with the 4 doses of L-NMMA, respectively. There was no difference in the L-NMMA response between the 2 groups in terms of absolute flow, percent change, or with analysis of covariance to adjust for different baselines. The stable end products of nitric oxide (nitrite and nitrate) were measured in the forearm venous effluent. Nitrite and nitrate levels at baseline were not reduced in patients with heart failure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of norepinephrine on endothelium-dependent vasodilation of forearm resistance vessels.

BACKGROUND: Endothelium-dependent dilatation of forearm resistance vessels is attenuated in patients with heart failure. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system could cause this abnormality by way of vasoconstriction and chemical inactivation of nitric oxide. METHODS AND RESULTS: The effects of concurrent intra-arterial norepinephrine infusions (25, 50 and 100 ng/min) on forearm blood flow responses to equipotent doses of an endothelium-dependent vasodilator, methacholine (0.3 and 1.5 micrograms/min), and an endothelium-independent vasodilator, nitroprusside (1 and 5 micrograms/min), were studied in 12 normal subjects. Norepinephrine infusions increased the mean plasma norepinephrine from 255 pg/ml at baseline to 460, 629, and 1089 pg/ml, respectively. Basal forearm blood flow was reduced from 2.9 to 1.6 ml/min/100 ml of forearm volume at the highest dose (p < 0.01). The average response to the lowest dose of methacholine (4.5 ml/min/100 ml) was not significantly reduced by concurrent infusion of norepinephrine (4.4, 4.2, and 4.3 ml/min/100 ml, respectively), whereas the response to the higher dose of methacholine (8.9 ml/min/100 ml) tended to be lower (7.2, 6.7, and 7.4 ml/min/100 ml, respectively) but did not attain statistical significance. Methacholine induced vasodilation was not more sensitive to norepinephrine than nitroprusside responses. Lower body negative pressure (-20 mm Hg) also significantly reduced baseline forearm flow and increased plasma norepinephrine but did not effect either methacholine or nitroprusside induced vasodilation. CONCLUSION: Sympathetic stimulation induced by infusion of norepinephrine or lower body negative pressure is not a potent antagonist to endothelium-dependent vasodilation of the forearm vasculature. These data suggest that sympathetic activation does not completely explain the abnormal endothelium-dependent vasodilation seen in patients with heart failure.

Cyclosporine augments renal but not systemic vascular reactivity.

Renal vasoconstriction and hypertension are major side effects of cyclosporine. We tested the acute effects of cyclosporine on renal and systemic vascular reactivity to norepinephrine, angiotensin II, and arginine vasopressin. Renal vascular reactivity was tested in anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats with denervated kidneys. Renal blood flow was measured with an electromagnetic flow probe in response to graded intra-arterial infusions of vasoconstrictors before and after intravenous administration of cyclosporine. Cyclosporine augmented the decrease in renal blood flow and the increase in renal vascular resistance produced by intrarenal norepinephrine, angiotensin II, and arginine vasopressin. In these studies, systemic blood pressure did not change and cyclosporine caused no direct change in basal renal blood flow. In contrast, in conscious animals, cyclosporine did not increase the pressor response to intravenous norepinephrine or to angiotensin II. Rather, cyclosporine caused enhanced baroreflex slowing of heart rate and a decrease in the pressor response to both norepinephrine and angiotensin II. Even when the baroreceptor reflex was blocked by pentolinium, the pressor response to norepinephrine in cyclosporine-treated animals was diminished compared with vehicle-treated animals. Therefore, although cyclosporine augmented renal vasoconstriction in response to norepinephrine, angiotensin II, and arginine vasopressin, it did not acutely increase the systemic vascular response to these agents. Enhanced renal vascular responsiveness is an additional mechanism for cyclosporine-mediated renal vasoconstriction. Lack of enhanced peripheral vascular responsiveness suggests that hypertension is not likely to be due to direct effects on the systemic vasculature and is more likely to be a consequence of renal functional impairment.