Sympathoadrenal Response to Eledoisin-induced Hypotension in Normotensives and Hypertensives

Abstract

Blood pressure response to infusion of synthetic eledoisin was carefully evaluated in 8 normotensives. There was tachyphylaxis to the hypotensive effect of this peptide. This tachyphylaxis is partly accounted for by the overactivity of the sympathoadrenal system, because urinary excretion of catecholamines was found to increase during the hypotension induced by eledoisin. In contrast, the sympathoadrenal response was lacking in 13 hypertensive patients. The latter responded to eledoisin infusion with a profounder hypotension than the former, and this hypersensitivity was considered to be due to the lack of sympathoadrenal overactivity.