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Biomedical subjects

R Fagard

Publications and source records attributed to R Fagard.

At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources

Comparison of cardiac output determined by a carbon dioxide-rebreathing and direct Fick method at rest and during exercise.

1. To study the validity of a CO2-rebreathing method at rest and during graded exercise, cardiac output was measured simultaneously on 59 occasions in 16 subjects with normal pulmonary function with the CO2-rebreathing method and the direct Fick method for oxygen. The correlation coefficient between the results of both methods was significantly higher during exercise than at rest. 2. No systematic difference was shown between (a-v)CO2 content difference determined on whole blood and end-tidal gas, which justified the exclusion of a correction factor for blood to alveolar gas PCO2 gradients. 3. In the calculation of cardiac output by the direct Fick method for CO2 and by CO2 rebreathing, a standard CO2 dissociation curve was preferred to a synthetic CO2 dissociation curve, constructed by allowance for changes in haemoglobin concentration, pH and oxygen saturation. The latter curve tended to increase values for cardiac output and induced a large dispersion around the line of identity, when compared with simultaneous cardiac output estimates by the direct Fick method for oxygen.

Adult↗

Effects of labetalol on systemic and pulmonary haemodynamics at rest and during exercise in hypertensive patients.

1. Labetalol was administered to 18 hypertensive patients for an average duration of 2.44 weeks, with an average final daily dose of 1.65 g. 2. Labetalol decreased resting heart rate by 16% and maximal exercise heart rate by 21%; the phenylephrine-induced rise of systolic brachial artery pressure was reduced by 36%. 3. During labetalol brachial artery pressure was lowered by 29/15 mmHg in the recumbent position, by 41/23 mmHg at rest sitting, and by 53/23 mmHg at maximal exercise; total peripheral resistance was not significantly affected at rest recumbent, but was reduced at sitting and at exercise; cardiac output decreased in all conditions. 4. Labetalol reduced mean pulmonary artery and capillary wedge pressures only in the sitting position. Pulmonary vascular resistance remained unchanged. 5. The drug produced significant decreases of plasma renin activity and of plasma aldosterone concentration.

Adult↗

Effects of angiotensin antagonism at rest and during exercise in sodium-deplete man.

Mean intra-arterial pressure (P-), heart rate (HR), cardiac index (CI), total peripheral resistance index (TPRI), and plasma renin activity (PRA), norepinephrine (PNE), and epinephrine (PE) were estimated in five normal male subjects placed on a low-sodium diet for the previous 7 days. Subjects were studied during rest in recumbency and during intravenous infusion of either glucose or saralasin in a) recumbent position, b) sitting position on the bicycle ergometer, and c) during submaximal graded exercise. At rest recumbent saralasin induced pressure changes that were closely related to logPRA. During exercise the increase in P- was significantly lower during saralasin as compared to glucose from 110 W on, related to a greater reduction in TPRI. The increase of PRA during exercise was about three times greater with saralasin as compared to glucose, but the rises in PNE and PE were similar in both series of tests. Angiotensin II may thus have a role in the maintenance of P- in the supine sodium-deplete normal subjects, and stimulation of the renin angiotensin system during physical exercise contributes to a minor extent to the increase in P- in these conditions.

Angiotensin II↗

Effects of 1-sar-8-ala-angiotensin II on arterial pressure, renin and aldosterone in hypertension.

1-Sar-8-ala-angiotensin II did not change intra-arterial pressure in 25 sodium replete hypertensive patients, whilst the pressure changes were closely related to the plasma renin level during sodium depletion (r = -0.87; n = 32). The study indicates that arterial pressure is not dependent on angiotensin II in sodium replete patients and in sodium deplete subjects with low PRC, while it is angiotensin dependent during sodium depletion in the others. Plasma renin is unaffected in sodium replete subjects, but increases during saralasin in sodium deplete conditions. Saralasin stimulates aldosterone secretion only in sodium replete patients.

Adult↗

Antihypertensive therapy in patients above age 60. Third interim report of the European Working Party on High blood pressure in Elderly (EWPHE).

Three hundred forty nine hypertensive patients above the age of 60 have entered the double-blind multicentre trial of the European Working Party on High blood pressure in the Elderly (EWPHE). After stratification and randomisation half were treated with one or two capsules containing 25 mg hydrochlorothiazide and 50 mg triamterene and if blood pressure control was insufficient methyldopa was added up to 2 g daily; the other half received matching placebo. No significant differences between the groups were present prior to randomisation. A significant blood pressure difference of 25/10 mm Hg was obtained between the groups and maintained during two years of follow-up. No major disturbances in serum potassium or serum sodium were noted with the present drug combination. However, during the initial phase an increase in serum creatinine and serum uric acid was noted in the actively treated group, which was maintained for two years. Also glucose tolerance was impaired after 2 years in the actively treated group. A favourable influence on prognosis by active treatment can be expected on the basis of the blood pressure reduction and in the absence of major electrolytes disturbances. But this benefit must be proven by observed statistical differences in terminating events between the groups. Therefore the patients are being followed for a longer period of time and more patients are admitted into the trial.

Aged↗

Aging and the cardiovascular system.

With advancing age blood pressure rises in most populations with the exception of some isolated tribes. In western countries 30 to 40% of the people above the age of 60 years have casual blood pressure levels greater than or equal to 160/95 mm Hg. Advancing age per se produces a number of physiological changes related to blood pressure, such as a decrease in cardiac output, an increase in peripheral vascular resistance and a decrease in plasma renin-angiotensin-aldosterone levels. The mechanism causing the elevation in pressure with age are unknown though increased rigidity of the great vessels contributes to the rise in systolic pressure. There is a decline in the sensitivity of the baroreceptor reflex, but the contribution of this to the elevation of pressure has not be elucidated. Elderly patients with uncomplicated essential hypertension have a low cardiac output and high peripheral vascular resistance. The rise in blood pressure is associated with an increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality even in the elderly hypertensives. The available data on the efficacy of hypotensive treatment in the elderly is scanty. There are no data proving that hypotensive therapy prolongs life. Controlled studies on the prevention of organ damage especially cerebrovascular accidents are inconclusive, showing either a significant decrease or no effect. Isolated reports illustrate, however, that drastic blood pressure reduction can provoke serious side effects, thus decreasing the quality of life. Hypotensive treatment is indicated in elderly hypertensive patients with hypertensive retinopathy grade III or IV, congestive heart failure or cerebral haemorrhage, in elderly patients with a markedly elevated diastolic blood pressure (greater than or equal to 120 mm Hg) and a trial of hypotensive therapy should be offered in milder forms of hypertension when it is accompanied by certain specific symptoms such as angina, headache and dyspnoe. The management of elderly hypertensive patients is more difficult than in the young. General measures are often not well accepted. The dose adjustment of the hypotensive agent is more critical and volume depletion or orthostatic hypotension are more likely to occur.

Aged↗

Haemodynamic response to graded exercise during chronic beta-adrenergic blockade with bunitrolol, an agent with intrinsic sympathomimetic activity.

The effect of chronic beta blockade on the haemodynamic response to graded exercise was studied in 18 hypertensive patients treated with bunitrolol, which has partial agonist activity. The patients first received a placebo for 5 to 12 days, then bunitrolol 30 mg daily for one week and subsequently the dose was doubled weekly as necessary up to 240 mg daily. At rest haemodynamic changes after beta blockade were only minor; heart rate decreased by 8% and no significant change was observed in stroke index, cardiac index, (a-v)O2 difference and VO2. The hypotensive effect was not significant and no significant change in mean pulmonary arterial and wedge pressure was observed. Maximal exercise capacity remained unchanged, because of haemodynamic responses. The maximal exercise heart rate was reduced by 25% during beta blockade, which was compensated by a 34% elevation in stroke index, whereas maximal cardiac index and (a-v)O2 difference remained unchanged. There was no consistent change in mean pulmonary artery pressure during maximal exercise, but the mean brachial artery pressure fell by 12%.

Adult↗

Hypotensive effects of sodium volume depletion and 1-sar-8-ala-angiotensin II in relation to plasma renin in hypertensive patients.

The hypotensive effect of acute sodium volume depletion, produced by chlorthalidone and a low sodium diet, was inversely related to the plasma renin concentration (PRC) in 13 hypertensive patients of varying aetiology (r = 0.61; p less than 0.05); weight reduction induced by this therapy was not related to PRC (r = 0.12; p greater than 0.1). The angiotensin II antagonist 1-sar-8-ala-angiotensin II failed to reduce arterial pressure when the patients ingested 130 mEq sodium per day, but pressure fell when it was infused during sodium volume depletion, except when PRC remained low; the changes in pressure were related to the plasma renin level (r = 0.78; p less than o.005). The combined hypotensive response to acute sodium volume depletion and to angiotensin II blockade during sodium volume depletion was not related to PRC (r = 0.15; p greater than 0.1). The results demonstrate that acute sodium volume depletion caused similar weight loss in patients with high and low PRC values, and it would have had similar hypotensive effects but for angiotensin-induced vasoconstriction in the high renin patients. Since 1-sar-8-ala-angiotensin II also reduced arterial pressure in 6 patients during chronic diuretic therapy, angiotensin II must still induce vasoconstriction in these circumstances.

Adult↗

Plasma renin levels and systemic haemodynamics in essential hypertension.

1. Plasma renin concentration, intra-arterial pressure, cardiac output and total peripheral resistance have been studied in 50 patients with essential hypertension and normal renal function. 2. Total peripheral resistance and plasma renin were negatively correlated (r = -0-45), indicating that 'high-renin' essential hypertension is not necessarily associated with arteriolar vasoconstriction. 3. The inverse relation between mean arterial pressure and plasma renin (r = -0-46) suggests a role for the renal baroreceptor mechanism in the suppression of renin in 'low-renin' hypertension. 4. Cardiac output was positively related to plasma renin concentration (r = +0-42). 5. Multiple regression analysis indicates that the described relationships were independent of age.

Adult↗

Effects of the angiotensin II antagonist 1-sar-8-ala-angiotensin II in hypertension in man.

The angiotensin II antagonist 1-sar-8-ala-angiotensin II (saralasin) was infused in forty-six patients with hypertension of various aetiology (essential, renal arterial or parenchymal disease, primary hyperaldosteronism), before and/or during sodium volume depletion obtained by chlorthalidone and low sodium diet. When saralasin was infused in twenty-five patients ingesting 130 mmol of sodium per day, including patients with proven renovascular hypertension, the changes in mean arterial pressure and ranged from +10 to -7 mmHg (mean: +0.20 mmHg) and were not related to the plasma renin concentration (PRC) (r = -0.11). During sodium volume depletion, saralasin induced changes in mean arterial pressure, ranging from +21 to -76 mmHg, which were closely related to log PRC (n = 32; r = -0.87). Combined sodium depletion and antagonism of angiotensin II 'normalized' mean arterial pressure (less than or equal to 100 mmHg) in twenty-one of the thirty-two patients, while pressure remained between 106 and 147 mmHg in eleven 'poor' responders, so that pressor mechanisms other than sodium volume and angiotensin must be responsible for the remaining elevation of pressure in these patients. The study indicates that arterial pressure is not dependent on the immediate pressor effects of angiotensin II in sodium replete patients, and in sodium deplete subjects whose PRC remains low, while it is at least partly angiotensin II dependent during sodium volume depletion in the others. The results cast doubts on the clinical usefulness of saralasin in the investigation of patients with hypertension, when studied in the conditions of the present study.

Adult↗