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Clonidine premedication for craniotomy: effects on blood pressure and thiopentone dosage.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether oral clonidine premedication improves cardiovascular stability and/or reduces the requirements for drugs used to control systolic blood pressure (SBP) during elective craniotomies. We performed a double blind randomized trial involving 77 normotensive, ASA physical status I or II adults. Clonidine 4 micrograms/kg or placebo was given as oral premedication. The patient's mean SBP on the day before surgery was used as the baseline. SBP was controlled between the baseline and 30% below it (but not < 90 mm Hg). Anesthesia was induced with thiopentone, N2O, and fentanyl; maintenance was with N2O. Further doses of thiopentone were administered to control rises in SBP until skin incision. After skin incision trimethaphan (TMP) was used to control the SBP and isoflurane only added if TMP was insufficient. Isoflurane was discontinued as soon as SBP control allowed. The induction dose of thiopentone was the same in both groups but subsequent usage for blood pressure control was significantly lower in the clonidine group. There were no differences in trimethaphan dose, or the incidence and duration of isoflurane use. The clonidine group had lower SBP on arrival in the operating room, preinduction, and postintubation. There were no differences in mean "intraoperative" SBP, their coefficients of variation, or recovery room values. Two subgroups were analyzed, based on the study groups mean age and baseline SBP. Three-way analysis of variance revealed that the blood pressure effects of clonidine were almost entirely confined to patients older than 45 years. Baseline SBP had no independent effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Administration, Oral↗

Neurohumoral control of colonic motility in the rabbit.

Colonic motility was examined in the proximal (taeniated) and distal (nontaeniated) colon of New Zealand White rabbits. Colonic myoelectric and contractile activities were recorded by bipolar electrodes and extraluminal strain gauges sewn on the antimesenteric serosal surface of the proximal and distal colon. Slow-wave frequency consistently was slower in the proximal colon (13.2 +/- 0.9) compared with the distal colon (15.8 +/- 1.2) (P less than 0.05). During the control period 81.8 +/- 5.2% of slow waves have superimposed spike potentials in the proximal colon. The distal colon had similar amounts of spike activity. The distal colon had increased base-line contractility (P less than 0.02). Atropine inhibited spike and contractile activity on both sides of the colon, but the distal colon still had more contractile activity than the proximal colon (P less than 0.02). The alpha-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine and antagonist phentolamine had no effect on colonic motility. Isoproterenol inhibited colonic smooth muscle spike and contractile activity. This effect was blocked by propranolol. Administration of trimethaphan camsylate caused an increase in spike and contractile activity only in the distal colon. The effect of trimethaphan on the distal colon was inhibited by atropine. These studies show that 1) tonic cholinergic stimulation exists both in the proximal and in the distal colon, 2) circulating catecholamines have minimal effect on base-line colonic motility, and 3) tonic nonadrenergic inhibition of the distal colon modulates the tonic cholinergic stimulation.

Animals↗

Dynamic autoregulation of cutaneous circulation: differential control in glabrous versus nonglabrous skin.

The purpose of this project was to test the hypothesis that, independent of neural control, glabrous and nonglabrous cutaneous vasculature is capable of autoregulating blood flow. In 10 subjects, spectral and transfer function analyses of arterial pressure and skin blood flow (laser-Doppler flowmetry) from glabrous (palm) and nonglabrous (forearm) regions were performed under three conditions: baseline, ganglionic blockade via intravenous trimethaphan administration, and trimethaphan plus oscillatory lower body negative pressure (LBNP; -5 to -10 mmHg) from 0.05 to 0.07 Hz. Oscillatory LBNP was applied to regenerate mean arterial pressure variability that was abolished by ganglionic blockade. Ganglionic blockade was verified by an absence of a heart rate response to a Valsalva maneuver. Spectral power and transfer function gain between blood pressure and skin blood flow were calculated in this oscillatory frequency range (0.05-0.07 Hz). Within this frequency range, ganglionic blockade significantly decreased spectral power of blood flow in both the forearm and palm, whereas regeneration of arterial blood pressure oscillations significantly increased spectral power of forearm blood flow but not palm blood flow. During oscillatory LBNP, transfer function gain between blood pressure and skin blood flow was significantly elevated at the forearm (0.28 +/- 0.03 to 0.53 +/- 0.02 flux units/mmHg; P < 0.05) but was reduced at the palm (4.7 +/- 0.5 to 1.2 +/- 0.1 flux units/mmHg; P < 0.05). These data show that independent of neural control of blood flow, glabrous skin has the ability to buffer blood pressure oscillations and demonstrates a degree of dynamic autoregulation. Conversely, these data suggest that nonglabrous skin has diminished dynamic autoregulatory capabilities.

Adult↗

Inotropic, chronotropic, and dromotropic effects mediated via parasympathetic ganglia in the dog heart.

Some parasympathetic ganglionic cells are located in the epicardial fat pad between the medial superior vena cava and the aortic root (SVC-Ao fat pad) of the dog. We investigated whether the ganglionic cells in the SVC-Ao fat pad control the right atrial contractile force, sinus cycle length (SCL), and atrioventricular (AV) conduction in the autonomically decentralized heart of the anesthetized dog. Stimulation of both sides of the cervical vagal complexes (CVS) decreased right atrial contractile force, increased SCL, and prolonged AV interval. Stimulation of the rate-related parasympathetic nerves to the sinoatrial (SA) node (SAPS) increased SCL and decreased atrial contractile force. Stimulation of the AV conduction-related parasympathetic nerves to the AV node prolonged AV interval. Trimethaphan, a ganglionic nicotinic receptor blocker, injected into the SVC-Ao fat pad attenuated the negative inotropic, chronotropic, and dromotropic responses to CVS by 33 approximately 37%. On the other hand, lidocaine, a sodium channel blocker, injected into the SVC-Ao fat pad almost totally inhibited the inotropic and chronotropic responses to CVS and partly inhibited the dromotropic one. Lidocaine or trimethaphan injected into the SAPS locus abolished the inotropic responses to SAPS, but it partly attenuated those to CVS, although these treatments abolished the chronotropic responses to SAPS or CVS. These results suggest that parasympathetic ganglionic cells in the SVC-Ao fat pad, differing from those in SA and AV fat pads, nonselectively control the atrial contractile force, SCL, and AV conduction partially in the dog heart.

Animals↗

Catechol-o-methyltransferase and blood pressure in humans.

BACKGROUND: Whether catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), the enzyme that metabolizes extraneuronal norepinephrine, contributes to blood pressure regulation in humans is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied incremental doses of the COMT inhibitor entacapone, the sympathetic stimulant yohimbine, and placebo in 7 patients with multiple system atrophy (Shy Drager syndrome). We selected these unique subjects because norepinephrine exerts an exaggerated increase in blood pressure in these patients. Autonomic regulation was characterized with intravenous phenylephrine, nitroprusside, and trimethaphan. Patients were extremely hypersensitive to phenylephrine and nitroprusside. Trimethaphan elicited a profound depressor response. Phenylephrine sensitivity increased only slightly during ganglionic blockade. Entacapone increased systolic blood pressure dose-dependently; however, the pressor response to yohimbine was approximately 3.5 times greater than the maximal response to entacapone. CONCLUSIONS: COMT inhibition elicits a moderate, dose-dependent pressor response in the setting of severely impaired baroreflex buffering. Patients with multiple system atrophy allow for the characterization of subtle manipulations of norepinephrine turnover and blood pressure regulation in small numbers of subjects.

Baroreflex↗

Metformin inhibits ganglionic neurotransmission in renal nerves.

Intravenous administration of the antihyperglycemic agent metformin decreases arterial pressure and sympathetic nerve activity (SNA). To test the hypothesis that metformin inhibits SNA by interrupting ganglionic neurotransmission, we compared the actions of intravenous administration of metformin and the ganglionic blocker trimethaphan on postganglionic renal and preganglionic adrenal sympathetic nerves in pentobarbital-anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats. Intravenous metformin elicited dose-dependent decreases in postganglionic renal SNA (1 mg/kg: 0 +/- 0%; 10 mg/kg: -20 +/- 4%; 100 mg/kg: -92 +/- 3%; n = 7). Conversely, only the maximal dose of metformin affected preganglionic adrenal SNA (100 mg/kg: delta adrenal SNA = -14 +/- 6%; n = 8). Ganglionic blockade with intravenous trimethaphan (5 mg/kg) produced a differential sympathoinhibitory response similar to the response observed after high-dose metformin (delta renal SNA = -100 +/- 3%; delta adrenal SNA = -17 +/- 7%; P < .001). Preganglionic renal neurons were electrically stimulated in the spinal cord, before and during the peak of the sympathoinhibitory response to intravenous metformin, and the magnitude of the stimulus-evoked increases in postganglionic renal SNA were compared. Metformin dose-dependently attenuated the magnitude of the increase in postganglionic renal SNA elicited by stimulation of the spinal cord (30 mg/kg: -23 +/- 8%; 90 mg/kg: -65 +/- 11%; 270 mg/kg: -91 +/- 8%; n = 6 per dose). We conclude that high-dose intravenous metformin interrupts ganglionic neurotransmission in renal nerves.

Animals↗

Uncoupling of the baroreflex by N(N)-cholinergic blockade in dissecting the components of cardiovascular regulation.

Systemic administration of adrenergic agonists and nitric oxide donors is used extensively to determine cardiovascular receptor sensitivity. Conclusions regarding receptor sensitivity in the presence of the baroreflex may be misleading. In 8 normal volunteers, we determined the heart rate and blood pressure changes after incremental bolus doses of isoproterenol, phenylephrine, and sodium nitroprusside before and during neuronal nicotinic cholinergic (N(N)-cholinergic) blockade with trimethaphan. Results are given as median (25th/75th percentile). With trimethaphan, the baroreflex slope (as determined by bolus doses of nitroprusside and phenylephrine) decreased from 24 (22/26) to 0.00 (0.00/0.09) ms/mm Hg (P<0.01). The dose of isoproterenol that decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP) 12.5 mm Hg changed from 0.61 (0.51/5.3) to 0.17 (0.12/0.21) microg (P<0.01); the dose required to increase heart rate 12.5 bpm changed from 0.22 (0.17/0.41) to 0.74 (0.33/2.3) microg (P<0.01). The dose of nitroprusside required to decrease SBP 12.5 mm Hg changed from 2.3 (1.3/3.4) to 0.18 (0.14/0.24) microg/kg (P<0.01). The dose of phenylephrine required to increase SBP 12.5 mm Hg changed from 135 (110/200) to 16 (10/30) microg (P<0.01). We conclude that the efferent arc of the baroreflex can be completely interrupted with N(N)-cholinergic blockade. Estimation of adrenoreceptor sensitivity and sensitivity to nitric oxide donors by systemic administration of agonists is severely confounded by baroreflexes. Uncoupling of the baroreflex by N(N)-cholinergic blockade may be a useful method to obtain an integrated measure of adrenergic receptor sensitivity and sensitivity to nitric oxide donors in humans. This approach would permit the comparison of normal and abnormal physiological states without the "noise" of baroreflex buffering.

Adrenergic beta-Agonists↗

Sustained blood pressure elevation to lower body compression in pigs and dogs.

Inflatable suits were constructed for lower body compression in pigs and dogs. The suit for pigs encompassed hindquarters and part of the abdomen, and the smaller suit for dogs compressed only the hindquarters, leaving free the abdominal cavity. In conscious, diazepam-pretreated pigs, the compression lasted 30 minutes; during that period the blood pressure increased 50/38 mm Hg over the baseline. In chloralose-anesthetized dogs, the compression was extended to 3 hours; the blood pressure increase was 44/53 mm Hg. Blood pressure fell to the baseline immediately after decompression in both animals. In both species the substantial blood pressure increase was due to an increase of vascular resistance; this did not induced the expected baroreceptor-mediated bradycardia. In dogs, the blood pressure increase was accompanied by a large increase of plasma norepinephrine (from 179 to 975 pg/ml). To test whether the increase of vascular resistance reflected the mechanical compression of the vessels under the suit, animals were pretreated with trimethaphan. In pigs the trimethaphan substantially decreased the vascular resistance and the blood pressure response. This indicated that a portion of the vasoconstriction occurred in areas outside the suit. Lower body compression is a new model to cause prolonged blood pressure elevation by noninvasive and nonpharmacologic means. The mechanism of the blood pressure elevation requires further investigation.

Abdomen↗

Evidence for functional alpha 2-adrenoceptors on vascular sympathetic nerve endings in the human forearm.

The role of alpha 2-adrenoceptors on vascular sympathetic nerve endings in modulating release of the sympathetic neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) in humans was examined by measuring the regional rate of appearance of NE in forearm venous plasma (forearm NE spillover [FSO]) in 32 healthy volunteers during intra-arterial infusion of drugs acting at adrenoceptors or directly on vascular smooth muscle. Simultaneous intra-arterial infusions of tracer amounts of [3H]NE were used to calculate the extraction rate of NE in the forearm. Methoxamine or propranolol with epinephrine (PRO + EPI) was used to stimulate alpha-adrenoceptors, yohimbine was used to inhibit alpha-adrenoceptors, and sodium nitroprusside (NIP) was used to produce increases in forearm blood flow directly. Sympathetic efferent activity was manipulated by systemic intravenous infusions of NIP or trimethaphan. Yohimbine and NIP increased and PRO + EPI and methoxamine decreased NE FSO, without effects on systemic blood pressure, heart rate, or arterial levels of catechols. Changes in FSO were flow dependent; therefore, the slope of the relation between the changes in FSO and forearm blood flow was used to evaluate the effects of each drug on regional sympathoneural activity. During administration of yohimbine, the mean slope of the relation between the change in estimated FSO and the change in forearm blood flow was about four times that of the mean slope during administration of NIP (F = 6.35, p less than 0.05). The slopes of the relations between changes in FSO and forearm blood flow were unaffected by systemic trimethaphan or NIP infusion, indicating that the activity of alpha 2-adrenoceptors was not altered during inhibition or reflexive stimulation of sympathetic outflow. The results suggest that alpha 2-adrenoceptors modulate release of NE from vascular sympathetic nerve endings in humans and that the function of these receptors is unchanged during acute changes in junctional NE concentrations.

Adult↗

Cholinergic involvement in osmotic control of vasopressin release by the organ-cultured rat hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system.

A nicotinic-cholinergic receptor appears to mediate osmotic stimulation of vasopressin (VP) release by the hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal explant. Nicotinic blocking agents, hexamethonium, tetraethylammonium chloride, and trimethaphan, blocked VP release in response to the addition of sufficient NaCl to yield a 10 mosm/kg H2O increase in culture medium osmolality. Atropine at a similar molar concentration was ineffective in blocking VP release in response to the same osmotic stimulus. Tetraethylammonium chloride and trimethaphan also blocked acetylcholine-stimulated VP release. These findings support the hypothesis that the osmoreceptive element responsible for controlling VP release resides in a separate cell and communicates with the VP cell by way of a nicotiniccholinergic receptor.

Animals↗

Possible mechanism of action of metoclopramide-induced aldosterone secretion: in vivo and in vitro studies in the sheep.

To define further the mechanism by which metoclopramide, a dopamine antagonist, stimulates aldosterone secretion, seven lambs were injected iv with metoclopramide during a constant infusion of 5% dextrose in water and again during a constant infusion of trimethapan, a ganglionic blocker. In addition, suspensions of adrenal zona glomerulosa cells from the lambs were incubated in vitro in the presence of various concentrations of metoclopramide and known secretagogues. Plasma aldosterone concentrations increased in response to both metoclopramide and trimethaphan. However, during the trimethaphan infusion, no further increase in plasma aldosterone concentrations occurred after metaclopramide injection. In vitro, aldosterone concentrations in the zona glomerulosa cell suspensions increased in the presence of ACTH, potassium, and angiotensin II, but no increase in aldosterone concentration occurred in the presence of metoclopramide. These results suggest that in the sheep, metoclopramide stimulates aldosterone secretion by an indirect mechanism. This mechanism may involve the autonomic nervous system, since ganglionic blockade appeared to abolish the aldosterone response to metoclopramide.

Adrenal Glands↗

Dopaminergic inhibition of aldosterone secretion in man is independent of the autonomic nervous system.

To determine whether the plasma aldosterone response to metoclopramide, a dopamine antagonist, is mediated by the autonomic nervous system in man, five healthy male volunteers were injected with metoclopramide during an infusion of either 5% dextrose in water or trimethaphan, a ganglionic blocker. Despite evidence of ganglionic blockade during the trimethaphan infusion, the aldosterone response to metoclopramide remained intact. This suggests that the aldosterone response to metoclopramide is not mediated by the autonomic nervous system in man as it appears to be in the sheep, and suggests species variation in the mechanism of this this mineralocorticoid response.

Adult↗

Nicotinic and M1-, M2-muscarinic cholinergic control of ACTH response to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia in man.

The possible mediation of muscarinic and/or nicotinic-cholinergic receptors in the response of ACTH to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia was evaluated in 18 normal men. Subjects were tested with the insulin (0.15 U/kg) tolerance test (ITT) in basal conditions and in the presence of the M1- and M2-muscarinic antagonist atropine (600 micrograms iv just before insulin injection (time 0) plus 600 micrograms 20 min later in 6 subjects) or the M1-muscarinic receptor blocker pirenzepine (40 mg iv 10 min before ITT or 20 mg at time 0 plus 30 mg at time 20 in 6 subjects). The remaining 6 men were treated with the nicotinic receptor antagonist trimethaphan (0.3 mg/min x 30 min before ITT). ACTH rose 4.7 times in response to hypoglycaemia. The ACTH response to hypoglycaemia did not change after pirenzepine administration, whereas it was significantly increased by atropine and decreased by trimethaphan treatment. These data indicate that nicotinic and muscarinic (M2 but not M1) receptors participate in a different manner in the regulation of the hypoglycaemia-induced ACTH release.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

Autonomic mediation of glucagon secretion during insulin-induced hypoglycemia in rhesus monkeys.

Autonomic activation mediates the majority of the increase of glucagon secretion during insulin-induced hypoglycemia in several species including dogs, mice, and rats. However, the role of the autonomic nervous system to increase glucagon during hypoglycemia in humans remains controversial, and investigations in nonhuman primates have not been previously conducted. The autonomic contribution to glucagon secretion during hypoglycemia in a nonhuman primate was examined by two independent pharmacological approaches. Glucagon responses to clamped insulin-induced hypoglycemia were compared in conscious rhesus monkeys in the presence or absence of ganglionic blockade with trimethaphan, or during combined muscarinic and adrenergic receptor blockade with atropine, propranolol, and tolazoline. Insulin-induced hypoglycemia (plasma glucose = 1.9 +/- 0.1 mmol/l) activated parasympathetic nerves to the pancreas as assessed by increased plasma pancreatic polypeptide (PP) levels (delta = 135.0 +/- 36.8 pmol/l, P < 0.01), produced sympathoadrenal activation as assessed by elevations of plasma epinephrine (EPI) (delta = 22.3 +/- 2.95 nmol/l, P < 0.0005) and norepinephrine (NE) (delta = 3.72 +/- 0.77 mmol/l, P < 0.0025) and increased plasma immunoreactive glucagon (IRG) (delta = 920 +/- 294 ng/l, P < 0.025). Nicotinic ganglionic blockade with trimethaphan prevented parasympathetic (deltaPP = 16.5 +/- 16.3 pmol/l, P < 0.01 vs. control) and sympathoadrenal (deltaEPI = 1.52 +/- 0.98 nmol/l; deltaNE = -0.62 +/- 0.24 mmol/l, both P < 0.0025 vs. control) activation during hypoglycemia and inhibited the IRG response by 70% (delta = 278 +/- 67 ng/l, P < 0.025 vs. control). Combined muscarinic and adrenergic receptor blockade reduced parasympathetic activation (deltaPP = 48.3 +/- 16.3 pmol/l, P < 0.01 vs. control) and inhibited the IRG response by a similar degree to ganglionic blockade (deltaIRG = 284 +/- 60 ng/l, P < 0.025 vs. control). These results demonstrate by two independent pharmacological approaches that autonomic activation makes a substantial contribution to increased glucagon secretion during hypoglycemia of approximately 2.0 mmol/l in a species of nonhuman primate.

Adrenergic Antagonists↗

Sympathetic innervation and function in reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

Patients with reflex sympathetic dystrophy have posttraumatic pain disproportionate to the injury and spreading beyond the distribution of any single peripheral nerve. We examined sympathetic neurocirculatory function and the role of sympathetic postganglionic nerve traffic in maintaining the pain in 30 patients with reflex sympathetic dystrophy. Most had had the condition for more than 1 year, and 14 had undergone sympathectomy for the pain. Positron emission tomographic scanning after administration of 13N-ammonia was used to assess local perfusion, and 6-[18F]fluorodopamine was used to assess sympathetic innervation. Rates of entry of norepinephrine in the regional venous drainage (spillovers) and regional plasma levels of L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (the immediate product of the rate-limiting enzymatic step in norepinephrine biosynthesis) and dihydroxyphenylglycol (the main neuronal metabolite of norepinephrine) were measured with and without intravenous trimethaphan for ganglion blockade. 13N-Ammonia-derived radioactivity was less on the affected side than on the unaffected side, whereas 6-[18F]fluorodopamine-derived radioactivity was symmetrical. Thus, perfusion-adjusted 6-[18F]fluorodopamine-derived radioactivity was higher on the affected side. Norepinephrine spillover and arteriovenous increments in plasma levels of L-dihydroxyphenylalanine and dihydroxyphenylglycol did not differ significantly between affected and unaffected limbs, although 4 patients had noticeably less norepinephrine spillover and smaller arteriovenous increments in plasma dihydroxyphenylglycol on the affected side. Trimethaphan decreased the pain in only 2 of 12 nonsympathectomized patients. The results indicate that patients with chronic unilateral reflex sympathetic dystrophy have decreased perfusion of the affected limb, symmetrical sympathetic innervation and norepinephrine synthesis, variably decreased release and turnover of norepinephrine in the affected limb, and failure of ganglion blockade to improve the pain in most cases. These findings suggest augmented vasoconstriction, intact sympathetic terminal innervation, possibly impaired sympathetic neurotransmission, and pain usually independent of sympathetic neurocirculatory outflows.

Adult↗

Comparison of nicotinic receptor binding and biotransformation of coniine in the rat and chick.

Coniine, an alkaloid from Conium maculatum (poison hemlock), is a known teratogen in many domestic species with maternal ingestion resulting in arthrogryposis of the offspring. We have previously shown that rats are not susceptible and rabbits only weakly susceptible to coniine-induced arthrogryposis. However, the chick embryo does provide a reproducible laboratory animal model of coniine-induced teratogenesis. The reason for this cross-species variation is unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate coniine binding to nicotinic receptors and to measure coniine metabolism in vitro between susceptible and non-susceptible species. Using the chick model, neither the peripheral nicotinic receptor antagonist d-tubocurarine chloride nor the central nicotinic receptor antagonist trimethaphan camsylate blocked the teratogenesis or lethality of 1.5% coniine (50 microliters/egg). Trimethaphan camsylate enhanced coniine-induced lethality in a dose-dependent manner. Neither nicotinic receptor blocker prevented nicotine sulfate-induced malformations but d-tubocurarine chloride did block lethality in a dose-dependent manner. Competition by coniine for [125I]-alpha-bungarotoxin to nicotinic receptors isolated from adult rat diaphragm and chick thigh muscle and competition by coniine for [3H]-cytisine to receptors from rat and chick brain were used to assess coniine binding to nicotinic receptors. The IC50 for coniine in rat diaphragm was 314 microM while that for chick leg muscle was 70 microM. For neuronal nicotinic receptors, the IC50s of coniine for maternal rat brain, fetal rat brain, and chick brain were 1100 microM, 820 microM, and 270 microM, respectively. There were no differences in coniine biotransformation in vitro by microsomes from rat or chick livers. Differences in apparent affinity of coniine for nicotinic receptors or differences in the quantity of the nicotinic receptor between the rat and chick may explain, in part, the differences in susceptibility of coniine-induced teratogenesis between these two species.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗

Profound arterial hypotension in dogs: brain electrical activity and organ integrity.

To determine whether non-invasive measurement of brain electrical activity can predict ischemic brain damage, we recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) and somatosensory- (SEP) and auditory- (AEP) evoked potentials before, during, and after trimethaphan-induced profound arterial hypotension in dogs. The authors set out to compare the change in electrical activity with the degree of brain damage, as determined by microscopic examination. Dogs were anesthetized with halothane (1.4 vol % inspired), maintained horizontal (head at the level of the heart), and ventilated mechanically (FIO2 0.50); deviations from normal acid-base status were corrected. Twenty animals received a 1.5-mg/kg intravenous bolus of trimethaphan. Three animals were resistant to the drug. The remaining animals had profound hypotension [mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) at some steady level between 12 and 25 mmHg] for 1 h. Eight of these animals died during or soon after the hypotensive period as a consequence of cardiac arrest (three), intestinal bleeding (three) or unknown causes (two). In all survivors, EEG intensity and the amplitude of the SEP decreased during hypotension; both variables recovered with restoration of MABP. All nine animals surviving hypotension had no apparent neurologic or behavioral deficit nor any histologic evidence of ischemic brain cell injury. We were thus unable to find a MABP threshold for brain with minimal brain injury. Our findings suggest, under the conditions of our experiments, a great margin of tolerance for profound hypotension by the brain in this species. Other organ systems--the heart, gastrointestinal tract, and liver--proved to be more susceptible to ischemic damage. Eight of the nine surviving animals had elevations in serum alanine transaminase (SGPT), aspartate transaminase (SGOT), and alkaline phosphatase. Animals with the greatest increases in these enzymes showed centrilobular hepatocyte degeneration.

Animals↗

Role of sympathetic innervation in the feline continence process under natural filling conditions.

1. The effect of the sympathetic innervation on the bladder detrusor muscle was assessed in pentobarbitone-anesthetized cats by measuring the changes in bladder wall tension that occurred during sympathetic ganglion blockade after filling the bladder at a natural rate. 2. At a point 60% of the way through the continence process, systemic sympathetic blockade was produced by intravenous trimethaphan, and selective blockade of postganglionic hypogastric nerve activity was produced by application of trimethaphan to the exposed inferior mesenteric ganglia. The level of blockade was monitored with an in-continuity hypogastric nerve recording. 3. During both systemic and selective ganglion blockade, there was an increase in baseline transmural bladder pressure and a decrease in the amplitude of nonmicturating contractions. 4. Although there was no change in the mean level of transmural bladder pressure during either systemic or selective blockade, there was a significant increase in the mean level of bladder wall mechanoreceptor discharge, suggesting that before the blockade sympathoinhibitory effects were greater than sympathoexcitatory effects. 5. Measurement of bladder wall mechanoreceptor discharge before and during ganglion blockade revealed a net sympathoinhibitory influence on the level of bladder wall tension under natural filling conditions. These results confirm that the detrusor muscle of the feline bladder is under both sympathoinhibitory and sympathoexcitatory influences for a significant portion of the continence process.

Anesthesia↗