Japanese journal of pharmacology
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Comparative Study
Comparison of sublingual captopril and sublingual nifedipine in hypertensive emergencies.
Hypertensive crises require immediate therapy, usually by parenteral drug administration. Sublingual nifedipine has been shown to be highly effective. However, the blood pressure fall following nifedipine is frequently associated with side-effects. ⋯ Heart rates increased with nifedipine, but decreased with captopril. We observed no side-effects in the captopril group, but flushing, tachycardia and headache were observed in 6 patients in the nifedipine group. We conclude that sublingual captopril is effective in patients with hypertensive emergencies and that captopril may be an excellent alternative to sublingual nifedipine in the urgent treatment of hypertensive crisis.
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We examined effects of 711389-S, a new antiarrhythmic agent, on ouabain-induced arrhythmias in dogs and guinea-pigs, aconitine-induced arrhythmias in dogs and mice, adrenaline-induced arrhythmias in dogs under an anesthetized condition, and arrhythmias induced by coronary artery ligation and occlusion by a glass bead in dogs under conscious and un-restrained conditions. 711389-S (1-3 mg/kg, i.v.) decreased the number of ventricular extrasystoles induced by ouabain in dogs, and the doses of ouabain required to induce various types of arrhythmias were increased by pretreatment of guinea-pigs with intraduodenal application of 711389-S (5-10 mg/kg). In mice, 711389-S (3 mg/kg, i.v. or 10 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly prolonged the time to onset of arrhythmias induced by aconitine infusion. ⋯ The half decay time of 711389-S after a single bolus injection of 711389-S ranged from 60 to 80 min. Results indicate that 711389-S has similar antiarrhythmic effects to those of other Class I antiarrhythmic agents in situ, and they suggest that this compound might have potential usefulness as a new type of antiarrhythmic agent for clinical use.
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Effects of S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe).2 sulphate.tosylate upon the ischemia-induced brain edema and survival rate in Mongolian gerbils and spontaneously hypertensive rats were investigated, since SAMe is known to be important as a physiologically active substance in numerous metabolic processes including those that are inhibited in ischemia. SAMe suppressed increases in water and Na+ content in the ischemic brain which was produced by ligation of the common carotid artery for a short term (20-30 min) in Mongolian gerbils. ⋯ SAMe also increased survival rate in Mongolian gerbils with ischemic brain. Although the SAMe solution employed in the present experiments was hypertonic and contained mannitol as a filler, the beneficial effects were due to neither the hypertonicity of the solution nor mannitol, but due to SAMe itself.
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Possible mechanisms underlying the hypertensive response to intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) or intravenous (i.v.) injection of clonidine were investigated in freely moving, normotensive rats. In conscious rats, clonidine (2-20 micrograms) injected i.c.v. caused a dose-dependent and long-lasting pressor response associated with bradycardia. A similarly long-lasting pressor response was induced following an initial rapid rise in mean blood pressure after i.v. bolus injections of clonidine (5-50 micrograms/kg). ⋯ In adrenalectomized rats, systemic pretreatment with hexamethonium (25 mg/kg, i.v.) caused a potentiation of the pressor response to clonidine (20 micrograms, i.c.v.). These results suggest that clonidine induces the pressor response through activation of central alpha-adrenoceptors, probably the alpha 2 subtype, without an increase in sympatho-adrenomedullary activity. It is speculated that the response may be mediated by vasoactive humoral substance(s).
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Antiarrhythmic effects of intravenous coronary vasodilators (verapamil, diltiazem, bepridil, trimetazidine and nicorandil) were evaluated using two canine ventricular arrhythmia models (halothane-adrenaline arrhythmia and digitalis arrhythmia), and the minimum effective plasma concentrations of the drugs were determined for each arrhythmia model. Verapamil (0.1 mg/kg), diltiazem (0.1 mg/kg), bepridil (1 mg/kg) and high dose trimetazidine (10 mg/kg) were effective on halothane-adrenaline arrhythmia; and the minimum effective plasma concentrations of the above drugs were less than 30 +/- 10 ng/ml, less than 18 +/- 5 ng/ml, 0.38 +/- 0.11 microgram/ml and 7.0 +/- 1.5 micrograms/ml, respectively. ⋯ Verapamil, diltiazem and bepridil must have suppressed the halothane-adrenaline arrhythmia by blocking the Ca channel. Verapamil (1 mg/kg), diltiazem (1 mg/kg), bepridil (5 mg/kg), trimetazidine (3 mg/kg) and nicorandil (3 mg/kg) were ineffective on digitalis arrhythmia, even though their maximum hypotensive doses were used.