© 2001 by European Society of Cardiology
Copyright © 2000, European Society of Cardiology
Interaction between cholinergic and nitrergic vasodilation: a novel mechanism of blood pressure control
Department of Internal Medicine and the Botnar Center for Clinical Research, BH 10.642, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, CH-1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +41-21-314-0934; fax: +41-21-314-0451 urs.scherrer{at}chuv.hospvd.ch
Objective: Cholinergic vasodilation has been thought to play little if any role in the regulation of blood pressure in humans. Autonomic denervation potentiates the vasoconstriction evoked by nitric oxide synthase inhibition in humans, but the mechanism is unclear. We hypothesized that this may be related to loss of neuronal, non-nitric-oxide-dependent vasodilation. Methods: To test this hypothesis, we examined effects of cholinergic blockade on blood pressure, heart rate and peripheral vascular responses to systemic infusion of the nitric-oxide-dependent vasoconstrictor L-NMMA (0.5 mg/kg/min over 15 min) in eight normal subjects. Results: The L-NMMA-induced increase in mean (±S.E.) arterial pressure was roughly three times larger (P=0.002) in the presence than in the absence of cholinergic blockade (38±6 vs. 13±2 mmHg). Similarly, the increase in systemic and calf vascular resistance was more than twofold larger during L-NMMA–atropine. This potentiation was specific for nitric-oxide-dependent vasoconstriction, because atropine did not alter the responses to phenylephrine infusion. Cholinergic blockade also altered (P=0.004) the heart rate response to nitric oxide synthase inhibition; during L-NMMA alone heart rate decreased by 10±2 beats/min, whereas during L-NMMA–atropine infusion it increased by 14±4 beats/min. Conclusion: Cholinergic mechanisms play an important hitherto unrecognized role in offsetting the hypertension and cardiac sympathetic activation caused by nitric oxide synthase inhibition in humans. Decreased parasympathetic activity and impaired nitric oxide synthesis characterize several cardiovascular disease states, as well as normal aging. The conjunction of these two defects could trigger sudden death and contribute to the hypertension of the elderly.
KEYWORDS Blood pressure; Muscarinic (ant)agonists; Nitric oxide; Regional blood flow; Vasoconstriction/dilation
This work was presented in part at the 72nd Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association, Atlanta, November 7–10, 1999.
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