title: Diazepam reduces both arterial blood pressure and muscle sympathetic nerve activity in human.
abstract: It is known that benzodiazepines have a hypotensive effect, but the mechanism has not been well elucidated yet. To clarify whether this effect is due to central or peripheral mechanism, we administered 5 mg of diazepam or saline intravenously to healthy volunteers and assessed the change in blood pressure, heart rate, muscle sympathetic nerve activity and heart rate variability. After diazepam administration, systolic and mean blood pressure decreased significantly. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity was also significantly reduced but heart rate did not change, whereas the variables of spectral analysis of heart rate variability did not show significant change. We concluded that the hypotensive effect of diazepam in human is mainly due to the central mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake-Cho, Toyoake-City, Aichi 470-1192, Japan. tsuyoshi@fujita-hu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitajima
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanbayashi
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Yuriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Tomonari
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Rika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aizawa
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimizu
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003975:Diazepam / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007022:Hypotension / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation* / Q000502:physiology; D017779:Sympathetic Fibers, Postganglionic / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D003975:Diazepam