[Behavior of plasma levels of endothelin 1 and noradrenaline in patients with stable angina during the cold pressor test].
The aim of this study was to evaluate the behaviour of plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) and norepinephrine (NE) levels in patients with stable angina during a sympathetic stimulation test as the cold pressor test. We enrolled in the study 29 subjects: 14 patients with stable angina (all men, mean age 58.3 +/- 7.3 years) and 15 healthy subjects (all men, mean age 54 +/- 5 years). All patients with stable angina had a stenosis of the coronary arteries (at least 70% of the stenosis in one of the coronary arteries) confirmed by angiography. Before (-15 min; 0 min) during (+2 min) and after the cold pressor test (+5 min, +10 min, +20 min, +30 min) were measured the blood pressure and the heart rate. At the same time were collected venous samples for the ET-1 and NE determination. ET-1 levels increased only in the patients with stable angina (ET-1: O' = 9.8 +/- 3.7 pg/ml; +2' = 11.1 +/- 4.5 pg/ml; +10' = 14.8 +/- 7.1 pg/ml; +20' = 11.6 +/- 5.1 pg/ml; p < 0.05 vs 0', +2'; +20'). The NE levels increased in both groups (NE stable angina: 0' = 105 +/- 31 pg/ml; +2' = 206 +/- 127 pg/ml; +5' = 223 +/- 135 pg/ml; p < .05 vs +2', +5'); (NE healthy subjects 0' = 85 +/- 10 pg/ml; +2' 165 +/- 49 pg/ml; p < 0.05 vs + 2'). In conclusion, our study showed that cold pressor test is a stimulus for the sympathetic system in both groups. The increased levels of ET-1 detected only in the patients with stable angina suggest that this peptide can take part to the pathogenesis of the coronary artery disease.
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Istituto di II Clinica Medica, Università La Sapienza, Roma.
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D000368:Aged; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004562:Electrocardiography; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000097:blood*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay
D019332:Endothelin-1; D009638:Norepinephrine