Excessive nitric oxide function and blood pressure regulation in patients with autonomic failure.

ABSTRACT: Approximately 50% of patients with autonomic failure (AF) suffer from supine hypertension, even those with very low plasma norepinephrine and renin. Because NO is arguably the most potent metabolic modulator of blood pressure, we hypothesized that impaired NO function contributes to supine hypertension in AF. However, we found that AF patients (n=14) were more sensitive to the pressor effects of the NO synthase inhibitor N(G)-monomethyl-l-arginine, suggesting increased NO function rather than deficiency; a lower dose of N(G)-monomethyl-l-arginine was needed to produce a similar increase in blood pressure in AF patients, as in healthy control subjects in whom AF was induced with the ganglionic blocker trimethaphan (171+/-37 mg versus 512+/-81 mg, respectively; P=0.001). Furthermore, potenti

SUBMITTER: Gamboa A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2497433 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature