title: Twenty-four-hour blood pressure control: an intraarterial review.
abstract: Intraarterial blood pressure monitoring has shown the circadian rhythm of blood pressure control. Blood pressures tend to be highest in the morning before falling gradually during the day to a nadir at 3:00 a.m. There is a slight rise in the late afternoon that may correspond to patients' attendance at hospital for calibration of the equipment. There is a small rise in the blood pressure before awakening, and after arousal there is a rise in blood pressure to the peak level of the morning. In this article, we examine the effect of a variety of antihypertensive agents on this rhythm. In general, beta-adrenoceptor blockers appear to have less effect on nocturnal blood pressure and surge in pressure after arousal, while vasodilators, particularly alpha-adrenoceptor blockers, have a pronounced effect. These findings indicate that the rise in blood pressure before awakening and the rapid rise upon arousal appear to be due to increased alpha-adrenoceptor activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, Middlesex, England.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Gould
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Raftery
mesh_terms: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D015924:Blood Pressure Monitors; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D011942:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D011942:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta