title: Placebo-controlled double-blind trial of ketanserin in treatment of intermittent claudication.
abstract: Ketanserin, a selective serotonin (5-HT) antagonist at 5-HT2 receptors, was investigated in a 3-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in twenty patients with intermittent claudication. Blood-pressure ratio (thigh/arm), reactive hyperaemia measured with an ECG-triggered venous occlusion plethysmograph, blood filterability, and claudication distance on a treadmill progressively and significantly improved during ketanserin therapy, whereas no such changes occurred in the placebo group. Mean claudication distance improved by 140%; four of the eleven patients on ketanserin were able to keep walking beyond the time limit of the exercise test. The beneficial effect of ketanserin suggests that 5-HT may be involved in the pathogenesis of peripheral arterial obstructive diseases. In an experiment comparing blood-pressure ratio measured by doppler velocimetry and by plethysmography, the plethysmographic values rose during ketanserin therapy only at thigh level, which suggests an improvement in the collateral circulation.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004907:Erythrocyte Deformability; D005080:Exercise Test; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007650:Ketanserin; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply; D008875:Middle Aged; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010991:Plethysmography; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D010880:Piperidines; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists; D007650:Ketanserin