• H J Silverman, R Penaranda, J B Orens, and N H Lee.
• Department of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.
• Crit. Care Med. 1993 Jan 1;21(1):31-9.

ObjectivesTo determine whether myocardial hyporesponsiveness to administered catecholamines occurs in human sepsis and whether this phenomenon is associated with impaired beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate.DesignProspective study.SettingMedical ICU in a university hospital.PatientsNormal human volunteers (n = 7), critically ill patients who were not septic (n = 9), septic patients not in shock (n = 16), and septic patients in shock (n = 17).Measurements And Main ResultsPulmonary artery catheter-derived hemodynamic data were obtained in patients with sepsis and septic shock. Isoproterenol and sodium fluoride-stimulated cyclic adenosine monophosphate accumulations were measured in circulating lymphocytes. The hemodynamic response to sequential infusions of dobutamine, 5 and 10 micrograms/kg/min, was obtained in septic and septic shock patients. Baseline hemodynamic values for mean arterial pressure, cardiac index, left ventricular stroke work index, and oxygen delivery index at approximately 2 days after the onset of sepsis were significantly lower in septic shock patients compared with septic (nonshock) patients (p < .01 p < .05, p < .001, p < .01, respectively). Isoproterenol- and sodium fluoride-stimulated cyclic adenosine monophosphate accumulations were significantly reduced in septic shock patients compared with those accumulations observed in septic patients (p < .01 and p < .001, respectively). The heart rate response to 10 micrograms/kg/min of dobutamine was significantly (p < .01) lower in septic shock patients compared with septic patients.ConclusionsIn patients with septic shock, impaired beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate is associated with myocardial hyporesponsiveness to catecholamines, suggesting that beta-adrenergic receptor dysfunction may contribute to the reduced myocardial performance observed in this shock state.

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