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Previous Volume 333:155-160 July 20, 1995 Number 3 Next

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ABSTRACT

Background The mechanism of enhanced vascular reactivity in young blacks, which may play a part in the development of hypertension, has not been defined. To determine the contribution of blunted vasodilatation mediated by ₂-adrenergic receptors to this phenomenon, we compared forearm blood-flow responses to isoproterenol in young black and white normotensive men.

Methods We used venous-occlusion plethysmography to measure the responses of blood flow in the forearm to the intraarterial administration of isoproterenol (10 to 400 ng per minute) in 9 normotensive black men (mean [±SD] age, 31.3±8.0 years) and 13 normotensive white men (mean age, 32.9±5.6 years). Sympathetic activity in the forearm was measured simultaneously by isotope-dilution techniques.

Results Base-line blood flow in the forearm was similar in blacks and whites, but the degree of vasodilatation in response to isoproterenol was markedly lower in blacks. Isoproterenol at an infusion rate of 400 ng per minute produced a 9-fold increase in blood flow in whites but only a 3.5-fold increase in blacks (P<0.001). The base-line rate of norepinephrine spillover in the forearm was higher in blacks (2.0±1.3 ng per minute [11.8±7.7 nmol per minute]) than in whites (0.6±0.5 ng per minute [3.5±3.0 nmol per minute], P = 0.002), but there was no difference between the groups after isoproterenol stimulation.

Conclusions Forearm blood-flow responses to isoproterenol were markedly attenuated in normotensive blacks, indicating a blunting of vasodilatation mediated by ₂-adrenergic receptors. Our findings suggest that the mechanisms responsible for blunted vasodilatation in response to the administration of isoproterenol may contribute to enhanced vascular reactivity in blacks and may play a part in the pathogenesis of hypertension in blacks.

Source Information

From the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Wood at Rm. 552, Medical Research Bldg., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232-6602.

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Attenuation of Isoproterenol-Mediated Vasodilatation in Blacks
Goldsmith S. R., Dachman W., Vajo Z., Zafar H., Kotanko P., Skrabal F., Lang C. C., Stein C. M., Wood A. J.J.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1995; 333:1502-1503, Nov 30, 1995. Correspondence

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