The American journal of physiology
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The mechanisms responsible for maintenance of the high-output state associated with thyrotoxicosis have been investigated by measurement of cardiac-function curves and venous compliance during ganglionic blockade with trimethaphan. Thirteen calves were injected daily with L-thyroxine (200 micrograms/kg) for 12-14 days. Thyroxine treatment increased heart rate (70%), left ventricular systolic pressure (22%), cardiac output (120%), left ventricular maximum rate of pressure development (dP/dt) (56%), and total blood volume (18%) and decreased systemic vascular resistance (39%). ⋯ Unstressed vascular volume was increased from 52.3 +/- 1.1 to 67.1 +/- 0.9 ml/kg. Thus the elevated cardiac output and new cardiac-function curve in thyrotoxicosis are associated with a combination of increased inotropic state, increased blood volume, and decreased venous compliance. These effects are not the result of autonomic influences and may represent direct actions of thyroid hormone on the heart and peripheral venous circulation.
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Comparative Study
Hemodynamic effects of vasopressin compared with angiotensin II in conscious rats.
The mechanisms whereby arginine vasopressin influences hemodynamic and autonomic function were investigated in conscious rats. In normal rats, 60-min intravenous infusions produced dose-related increases of arterial pressure and total peripheral resistance with marked decreases of both heart rate and cardiac output. Cholinergic blockade with methscopolamine attenuated the bradycardia at higher doses of vasopressin, whereby the fall of cardiac output was not affected. beta-Adrenergic blockade with atenolol attenuated the fall of heart rate seen with lower doses of vasopressin but did not prevent the fall of cardiac output. ⋯ Peripheral resistance increased in the normal rats, whereas the related decreases in cardiac output and heart rate were only 30% of the responses seen with equipressor doses of vasopressin. Ganglionic blockade increased pressor activity only two- to eightfold compared with the 60-fold increase observed with vasopressin. We conclude that vasopressin is a more potent vasoconstrictor than angiotensin II, decreases cardiac output independent of neural mechanisms, and results in withdrawal of sympathetic vascular tone to buffer rises of arterial pressure.