title: Cardiovascular effects of acute oxygen administration in healthy adults.
abstract: Supplementary oxygen is commonly administered in current medical practice. However, attention has recently been drawn to the potentially disadvantageous hemodynamic consequences in certain patients. Possible mechanisms underlying the cardiovascular responses to acute hyperoxia are unclear. The effects of acute oxygen administration on heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output, systemic vascular resistance, and baroreflex sensitivity were studied in a series of randomised, placebo-controlled studies in healthy individuals, using validated, non-invasive techniques. The effects of oxygen administration on forearm blood flow responses to locally administered acetylcholine, an endothelium-dependent vasodilator, sodium nitroprusside, an endothelium-independent vasodilator, and l-NG-monomethylarginine, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, were studied using venous occlusion plethysmography. Oxygen administration for 1 hour caused a reduction in heart rate (P < 0.01) and cardiac index (P < 0.05), and an increase in mean arterial pressure (P < 0.01), systemic vascular resistance (P < 0.05), large artery stiffness (P < 0.05), and baroreflex sensitivity (P < 0.05). There were no effects on vascular responses in the isolated forearm bed. These findings indicate that oxygen administration causes acute effects on cardiovascular function, which might be important in the context of acute illness.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacology Unit and Research Centre, The University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Porterfield Road, Edinburgh EH4 2LH, Scotland. s.waring@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: W Stephen
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Waring
authors.forename: Alastair J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: Sunil H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Adwani
authors.forename: Arendi J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Rosseel
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Potter
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Simon R J
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Maxwell
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D002307:Cardiography, Impedance / Q000187:drug effects; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005542:Forearm / Q000098:blood supply*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D000109:Acetylcholine; D010100:Oxygen